


Snips and Snails and Bantha Tails

by Kithera



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Children, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Exiled Jedi, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Original Character(s), Gen, Gray Jedi (Star Wars), Humor, Jedi, Pets, Post-Star Wars Prequel Trilogy & Pre-Star Wars: Original Trilogy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 22,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kithera/pseuds/Kithera
Summary: Everyone remembers their first pet, but what if you live on a starship and your pet dreams are bigger than what the ship can carry?***What are little boys made of?What are little boys made of?Snips and snailsAnd bantha tails,That’s what little boys are made of.What are little girls made of?What are little girls made of?Marrafa and spiceAnd everything nice,That’s what little girls are made of.Old Alderaan nursery rhyme
Comments: 42
Kudos: 6





	1. The asking – 35BBY (5 3/4 years old)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first official Family of Scoundrels fic that features the entire family. This is very much stand alone. It started on boards.theforce.net and I'm transferring some of the stories over here. 
> 
> Background - Kithera Rinani is an ex-Jedi who has left the order when she was pregnant with Zallie (the protagonist of this fic). After she left she fell in with Del and his family (Nico and Estra). Together they skirt the edges of the law to make their living. Kit and Del eventually fall in love. During the course of the story the Family will add three more children (twins and Quin). 
> 
> There will be lots of one-shots interspersed with some longer fics. 
> 
> I love comments and happy for concrit. 
> 
> Enjoy.

“Mama?”

Kithera rolled over and opened bleary eyes to see her daughter standing in the dim glow of her night torch.

“Yes, Zallie?”

“Mama, can we get a pet?”

Kithera frowned and squinted. She touched the button of the chrono and then winced as the time slowly swam into view and was registered by her still sleeping brain.

“Zallie, it’s four o’clock in the morning. Why do you want a pet now?”

“All the children in the flimsies have pets, why can’t I have pet?”

“It’s 4am Zallie, can we talk about this in the morning please?”

“It is the morning.”

“I know, but later in the morning. Much later. You need to go back to bed and mama needs to get sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

“So, I can get a pet?”

“We’ll have to talk about it. There would be lots of rules but we’ll talk about it later.”

“Okay mama,” the little girl smiled and pattered from the room on bare feet. There was movement on the other side of the bed and Kit felt Del’s hand slide across her stomach as he pulled her closer.

“You know,” he said quietly into the gloom, “that when you tell her you’ll talk about it she thinks you’re saying yes.”

“I know, but it’s a flight of fancy at four am, she’ll forget about it by morning.”

“I don’t know if we are talking about the same girl, Rin. I think you thinking she’ll forget is rather hopeful.”

“Look, given it is four o’clock I think I can be hopeful that the answer I gave will at least get us two more hours of sleep.”

“True, true. I’m sure your right and she’ll forget.”

“Uh hmmmm…sleeping now.”

He kissed the side of her head as she snuggled deeper into his arms. The darkness surrounded them and there was peace and silence.


	2. Pet 1 – The Jerba - Jojo - 34BBY - 6 and a bit

“Uh, Da, you need to come and see this.”

“What’s up sprout?” Del scooted the mechanics seat out from under the panel and looked at his son. Nicco was leaning against the edge of the door, a dirty rag in his hands and a rather bemused expression on his face.

“You’ve got to come and see this. Zallie has gotten into a scrap and I can’t find Rin.”

“I think she’s putting the twins down for a nap.” Del said as he slowly got to his feet, feeling his muscles protest at moving after lying prone for so long under the panel. “Is it a paying customer? Also, how did the six-year-old get a customer? Is Estra with her?”

“It’s too hard to explain Da. You’ve really got to come and look.”

Da watched his grinning son disappear down the corridor. He sighed. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this. He followed his son, hoping that whatever trouble Zallie had gotten herself would be able to hand waved away by Kit. Of all the abilities he missed from his former life, that was the biggest. Hand waving away any potential danger would have saved him a lot of heartache.

The smell hit him first. The winds of Tatooine had blown small eddies of sand into the landing pad, but the smell wasn’t the usual dry, sucking smell of the desert. It was the richer, earthier and definitely more musky smell of an animal. Del rounded the corner on the bottom deck and came face-to-face with a long, brown, hair covered snout. Two ridged horns extended above its head and it looked at him with the placid but wholly stupid eyes of a Jerba. A cheerful face, missing one tooth and with messy dark brown pigtails leant over the animal’s head and waved at him.

“Can I keep it?”

Del slowly dragged one hand down his face. From beside the animal, holding the lead came Estra.

“Um…how…why do you have a Jerba? Weren’t you just getting supplies from town? Like basic necessities. Last time I checked neither Rin nor I specified that we needed a Jerba.”

“Sorry Da.” Estra shrugged and had the grace to look rather abashed. “Zallie saw them. Then she wanted to pet them. Then she did that hand thingy that Rin does occasionally and the guy just gave us one to keep.”

“Wait. What hand thingy?” Del was suddenly on edge. He knew that Kit had been teaching Zallie the basics of Jedi training. They’d argued about it until Kit had pointed out that an untrained girl would be far more dangerous. Despite his beloved's assurance, Zallie worried Del. His adopted daughter wasn’t old enough or wise enough to understand just how much force to use when doing a mind trick.

“You know, the hand thingy that she does when she needs to get her way with a rube. The one you two argue about all the time. That one.” Nicco said making the gesture from where he was perched up on the boxes. He was watching the show with all the bemused wisdom that an eighteen-year-old boy could muster.

Del sighed again.

“No Zallie, you can’t keep him. You and Estra need to take him home.” There was a wail from the back of the Jerba who stamped its hooves. Del suddenly realised just how big the animal was, and how bad things could get if the animal panicked. “You’ll need to take your mama too,” he said hoping that Zallie would calm, and glad to be able to palm the job of consoling the six-year-old off onto his partner.

“Isn’t she putting the twins to sleep for their nap?” Nicco asked, obviously still enjoying his time in the peanut gallery. Del glared at his son.

“Alright Zallie, the Jerba can stay until Rin gets down. Then he’s going home.”

The girl slipped off the animal's back and grinned up at him. She patted the animal's huge flank and it flicked its tail gently. She reached up and grabbed the lead out of Estra’s unresisting hands.

“Come on Jojo, I’ll show you around.” The girl smiled and led the animal back outside the cargo bay and into the hot sun.

“Jojo?”

Del glanced at Estra who shrugged.

“She named him.”

From outside the ship there was a startled bellow. Estra’s eyes widened slightly.

“Uh, I’ll go check on her.”

“I’d check on Jojo,” Del said tamping down the sudden desire for a stiff drink. “I imagine by now she's already covered him with rainbow clips and is half way through plaiting his tail.”


	3. Pet 5 – The Spine Spider – Fluffy - 33BBY (7 1/2 years old)

“Uh, Zallie? What is that?” Estra tried to stop her voice from rising as panic gripped her. Over Zallie’s shoulder, two long, spindly legs waved briefly in the air before finding purchase. The creature hauled itself over the girl’s shoulder. Estra clamped two hands over her mouth as she tried not to squeal. The creature regarded her through its four beady eyes. Its fangs dripping long yellow strings of liquid down her sister's shirt. Zallie frowned at her Estra as if not understanding her fear. 

Estra watched in horror as the young girl gently placed her own hand on the shoulder on which the spider sat. She made a clicking noise. Estra tried not to scream again as the beady eyed creature scuttled onto her hand, its eight legs moving quickly and effortlessly. Zallie lifted the creature off her shoulder, the creature coming along for the ride. She cradled the creature as it waved its legs in the air again. Estra shuddered. Zallie looked down at creature and smiled at it, before reaching up a hand to softly brush its hairy body with one tiny finger. She looked up at her sister and grinned.

“This is Fluffy.” She thrust her hand forward and Estra found herself scrambling backwards to try and find higher ground. Part of the darkest reaches of her brain reminded her that spiders could climb. She tried to ignore it.

“Fluffy?” Her voice cracked as she said the name. The spider waved its front legs again as one drop of the thick yellow saliva dropped from its fang to land on Zallie’s palm.

“Do you want to pat it?” The girl asked oblivious to Estra’s growing distress.

“Uh…I’m okay. Rin?” The last word was a wail. The next second Kithera was at the door, pushing damp blonde hair out her eyes. She took one look at Zallie’s latest acquisition and paused.

“Sweetheart, where did you get that?” Kit’s voice was calm in a way that Estra couldn’t quite understand. How could you possibly be calm in the face of such evil?

“I caught him.” Zallie said cheerfully. “Would you like to hold fluffy? We could keep him. You said I could get a pet.”

“I said I would think about you getting a pet my sweet, but I think if we take fluffy he’ll miss his friends. He would be sad.”

“Oh. I don’t want him to be sad.” The girl’s smile dropped and she looked at the spider who waved its legs again.

“How about we take Fluffy back to his friends,” Kit said encouragingly, “and then you can come and help me bake a cake.

“Okay.” The voice was a tiny noise of disappointment.

Kithera patted her daughter on the shoulder and lead her quietly out of the room. As the door closed behind them Estra let out the breath she didn’t even realise that she’d been holding as her knees gave way beneath her.


	4. Pet 9  –  Titchy Itchies  – The Swarm – 33 BBY – (7 and 3 months)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for a one sentence challenge...

“Zallie my sweet, I know I said that you could get a pet, but your brother’s head lice are not an option.”


	5. Pet 8 – The Gurrcat - Puss - 32BBY - (8 1/4 years old)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What about a cat for a pet? Everyone loves cats - right?

**Pet 8 – The Gurrcat - Puss - 32BBY - (8 1/4 years old)**

  
  
“Before you say anything Zallie we are not getting one of those as a pet.”  
  
“But Estra, she’s so cute.”  
  
“Nothing with big claws and sharp teeth is cute.”  
  
“We could call her Puss.”  
  
“We could call her a problem.”  
  
“Uh, look girls as much as I love both of you, I don’t want to see Del’s face if I can only bring half of you home.” Nicco said holding out a hand. The young man was staring at the gurcat with his head on the side, as if trying to work out how to solve this particular problem.   
  
There was a long pause as the three sized up the Gurrcat snarling at the end of the thick metal chain.  
  
“Can’t you do your handwavy thing Zallie?” Estra asked taking a step towards the animal. It snarled and lunged at her and she hopped back out of the way.  
  
“Mama has told me I’m not allowed to do that until I’m older.”  
  
“Look kiddo, I’m sure that it’ll be fine this one time. We need to hit this place before the owners get home.”  
  
“Yeah, well the Gurrcat is kind of putting paid to that.” Estra again glaring at her brother, “so we’re pretty stuffed. Great for our first solo job.”  
  
“Well, in my plan we scaled the wall and avoided any guard animals. I just wasn’t planning on the kiddo tagging along.”  
  
Zallie looked offended, “Mama and Papa said I could go with you.”  
  
“No, they said to keep out of their way.” Nicco was facing off with Zallie who was pouting at her older brother.  
  
“Well, this is out of their way.” Zallie’s pout grew  
  
“Stop both of you. The Gurrcat problem needs to be solved and quickly.” This time it was Estra's turn to hold her hand up and stop her siblings squabbling. She gave Zallie a pointed look.  
  
“Fine, I’ll do the handwavy thing, but you can’t tell Da or Mama.”  
  
“I’m not going to tell them.”  
  
“Me neither.”  
  
“Pinkie swear?”  
  
“Zallie!” Both voices were raised in exasperation.  
  
“Fine. Come here puss.” The fingers wiggled and the animal instantly calmed. Zallie took a step forward and Nicco put a hand on her shoulder terrified she was about to be shredded. At the gesture the Gurrcat was immediately on its feet again, snarling and angry.  
  
“Why did you do that?” Zallie turned on her brother. “We were friends and now I have to do it again.”  
  
The hand waved this time and Gurrcat calmed and started purring. Zallie took two steps forward and wrapped her hands around the big cat’s neck. It purred and rubbed its head against her. The two other siblings looked at each other.  
  
“I hate how she does that.” Estra said frowning.   
  
“I love it if it gets us where we need to be.” Nicco replied his mouth quirking. He hoisted the backpack onto his shoulders and grinned at his sister.   
  
The two adolescents walked quickly towards the house, both taking a wide berth around the still purring animal which Zallie was scratching between the ears.  
  
“May we…” the little girl started. Nicco stopped and shook his head at his sister.   
  
“No. We can’t. We’re going to get into enough trouble as it is. You cannot have it as a pet.”  
  
“But it’s not fair that it’s on a chain. I would feed it and look after it. I promise.” Zallie whined. The Gurrcat thumped its tail on the ground in a rather alarming fashion.   
  
“Nope. Not for all the pinkie promises in the world.”   
  
“It could be useful.” Estra’s face was thoughtful.  
  
“I’m not explaining to Da and Rin where we got it from or how we got it.” Nicco’s voice was stern, “Zallie you stay out with here with the thing and we’ll do what we came here to do.”  
  
The two older siblings headed towards the house. As they walked away, they could hear Zallie’s voice in the background. The girl was rubbing the Gurrcat’s belly, while the giant cat purred loudly.  
  
“I know, he’s a big meanie. No, you can’t eat him. Not even if you ask nicely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zallie and her family live on their wits and what they can steal. Del and Kit (parents) would like to argue that they are honourable thieves and only steal from the rich. However, all the children are involved as they all need to eat and they are all need to keep their ship The Lady in the air. 
> 
> Also while Zallie is Force sensitive, her step-siblings are not (well, not particularly - they do have some gift but not a lot).


	6. Pet 10  – The Gizka – m’Oli, Mr Big mouth, Chirpy, B’xter, Grumpy, Cheeky – 31 BBY – 9 and 9 months

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zallie thinks she's found the right pet at last. Now all she has to do is sneak it by her family. Nothing could go wrong...right?

“Zallie!” 

The girl froze where she sat on her bed. She could hear her mother’s hurried footsteps coming down the durasteel floor outside her room. She shoved Chirpy back under the covers of the bed and hoped that the little animal wouldn’t squirm. 

The door of her room slid open to reveal a very angry looking Kit. She glared down at her daughter. In her hands perched B’xter, its big and rather adorable eyes fixed on Zallie. 

It took half a leap forward, but Kit caught it before it could make it to freedom. 

“Do you know what this is?” She asked her daughter angrily. Zallie decided that now was the time for her angelic smile. 

“No mama,” she tried with the biggest, most innocent smile she could muster. 

“Don’t lie to me Zallie,” Kit warned, smiling tightly. “The Force tells me when you lie. We don’t lie to each other in this family.” 

Zallie’s smile turned to a frown. It wasn’t fair. She couldn’t pull one over on her mother like she could with Da. 

“That’s B’xter,” she said grumpily. 

“That’s better. Do you know what B’xter is?” 

Zallie shook her head. 

“It’s a Gizka, Zallie. Do you have any others?” Kit asked pointedly. “Don’t lie.” Her mother added as Zallie went to shake her head. The doona cover moved and Kit pointed. 

“What’s that?” 

Zallie pulled the covers back and scooped up Chirpy protectively. 

“This is Chirpy.” 

“Uh huh? How many do you have Zallie?” Her mother asked using that soft and even tone that always meant trouble. 

Zallie decided that maybe truth was the best avenue.

“Well, I have m’Oli, Big Mouth, Mr Grumpy, Cheeky and then Chirpy and B’xter.” 

Her mother nodded. 

“And where have you been keeping them?”

“In a container under my bed. I made it myself, want to see?” Zallie’s enthusiasm to show her mum what she’d made overtook the crimson threaded warning rippling through what her mother referred to as the Force. 

The young girl tossed Chirpy onto the bed, where the animal squeaked and nattered at her in annoyance. She ignored him, wriggling under her bed to pull out the rough box that served as their pen. It was, her heart dropped at the realisation, empty. Zallie looked up at her mother and tried to smile again but Kit’s face was stony. 

“They aren’t there?” Her mother asked pointedly. 

“Uh no?” Zallie said finding the hole in the back of the box. 

“Hmmm. Do you know what a Gizka eats, Zallie?”

“Uh no. I’ve been feeding them scraps and they seemed happy with that.”

“Gizkas eat electrical wiring,” her mother’s voice stayed soft, calm and even. Zallie had the feeling that she was in terrible, terrible trouble. 

“Okay?” Zallie wasn’t entirely sure where her mother was going with that piece of information. It made the fact that Chirpy seemed more interested in her lamp then the hash she’d purloined from the kitchen make sense, but she didn’t see why her mother was so concerned about it. 

“What keeps the ship up, Zallie?” 

Zallie’s eyes widened and her mouth made a little ‘o’ of surprise as the realisation hit her. Kithera nodded. 

“We have to find the Gizka now. They breed easily and often. I bet you started out with only one.” 

“Uh, yeah. Mr Grumpy.” 

“Excellent. Although I feared you’ve misnamed him,” her mother’s anger slid into sudden bemusement. She let B’xter go and the little gizka leapt onto the bed beside Chirpy and snuggled into him. Her mother was staring at the little animals while she rubbed the side of her heavily pregnant stomach. 

“Oh?” Zallie stared at the two little gizka on the bed as they snuggled into each other. 

“It should have been Mrs Grumpy. Chirpy and B’xter here are Mrs Grumpy’s children.” 

“Oh.” Zallie’s eyes widened as she took in this new information. 

“Yep. So kiddo. Del is going to land this ship so that we can make repairs. You and I are going to practice our mediation skills. We are going to practice using the Living Force to find them all and get them somewhere safe.” 

“You won’t kill them will you?” Zallie was suddenly filled with panic. Kithera frowned in confusion. 

“No. Why would we do that? We’ll find them and contain them and then look for somewhere new for them to live.” 

“Oh,” Zallie's eyes filled with tears. Then her mother was beside her, an arm around her shoulders holding her tight. 

“We will find you a pet precious girl, but it won’t be a Gizka. You just have to be patient. But for now, we’re going to practice our Force skills. Then, once this is all done, you are going to help Del make his repairs and spend some time meditating about the benefits of not lying to your mama.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Put this up for concrit on reddit and got asked if I was a non-english speaker. I'm not (just for the record) but I wouldn't say my ability to find and fix typos or my grammar is going to win me any awards. Apologies if you find mistakes - they aren't meant to be there...I just don't often see them when I'm reading through my own work.


	7. Pet 11  – Bergruffta – The Herd – 31 BBY – 9 and 9 months and a bit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lady has crashed and the family has no way out. Nicco worries that his sister has fallen to the Darkside when she presents a rather interesting solution...

“What’s up sprout?” Nicco said looking up from where he had been trying to fix one of the control panels. Zallie was standing at the door looking pensive. 

They’d been trapped on the planet for several days now, _The Lady_ had crashed deep into one of the forests and even though they’d gotten most of her back together, they still had no way of getting her out of the forest and into a clearing where she could take off. 

The Gizkas had made rather short work of _The Lady’s_ very old wiring system and the ship had come to a rather long and spluttered stop. 

Nicco and Estra had often teased Del that he would save _The Lady_ first and then them second, but when it came down to it Del had ditched his _love_ into the forest to save them all. 

Now he was snapping at everyone, but Nicco knew the anger was just a façade. 

He had seen his Father cry only twice. Then last night he’d gone to _Lady’s_ mess for a glass of water and seen his father sobbing quietly by himself. He’d been wondering whether to go in when heavily pregnant Rin had wandered past him. She had given his arm a comforting pat and then headed into the kitchen. 

Nicco had stayed long enough to see Rin put her arms around his father and watch his father relax before heading back to his bunk. 

Nicco shook his head to clear the memory and smiled at his younger sister. 

Zallie, too, had been withdrawn since the crash, helping out more than she normally would and staying well out of everyone’s way when she couldn’t. 

She spent large amounts of time out in the forest, and Del had snapped at her about it being too dangerous until she started bringing home huge quantities of fruit. Now that Nicco thought about it, there should have been more questions as to where she’d gotten the fruit from. However, with the conservator taken out by the Gizka, they’d been down to their last rations, so any food had been a blessing. 

“Can you come with me? Please?” 

He frowned. Zallie was normally upbeat and chirpy and obvious in definitely trying to get something out of him. Her suddenly worried and anxious demeanour threw him momentarily. 

“I’ve got to fix this first sprout.” 

“I know, but they said they would help and I want you to come with me just in case,” she said looking pensive. 

Nicco nodded and climbed to his feet. He didn’t quite understand why he always ended up helping Zallie in whatever silly plan she had thought up. He was twelve years older than her. The age gap meant he should know better, but it seemed that when Zallie asked him to do something he always went along. 

It wasn’t as if she even had to use the ‘hand thingy’ as it had become known, to get him to do it either because there was no point. Her and Rin’s _powers_ simply didn’t work on Del, Estra or him. 

Nicco had often wondered if it had something to do with growing up around _Him_ but he was never game to ask either Rin or his Father about his theory. Talking about _Him_ was strictly forbidden. 

So, without the use of the Force, there was no other reason as to why he helped her every time, even when it was dangerous – especially when it was dangerous. It was just that even though Zallie wasn’t his blood sibling like Estra or the twins, she was his sister and that was all that mattered. 

Zallie reached out and took his hand and led him out through the hangar bay doors and into the forest beyond. 

It was noisier out in the jungle. Birds called and fought in the torn canopy above the ship, somewhere an animal shrieked and there was a chorus of answers. The air was hot and humid and stuck to the inside of his lungs making it hard to breathe. None of this seemed to affect his sister though. 

She led him down a tiny goat track deeper into the jungle. 

“Uh, Zallie, does Rin know where you go?” he asked after they’d walked a few minutes in silence.

“No.” 

“Does Del?”

“No.” Her voice was almost emotionless as they made their way through the thick undergrowth. Nicco noticed that there was an obviously well-walked trail that they were following. 

“What about Estra and F’kisi?” he said, wondering if she’d confessed to her older sister or her friend. 

“No? Why would I tell them? I told the twins.” 

Del thought about his four-year-old brothers and blinked at the concept of Zallie telling the twins anything. Unless it was about speeders, dirt or food then they wouldn’t have cared. 

He suddenly realised he hadn’t seen the twins at all that morning. He’d just figured that they’d been with one of the others. 

“Do you know where the twins are?” he asked gently. 

“Yeah, we’ll see them when we get there.”

“When we get where?” Nicco stopped suddenly, almost jolting his sister off her feet. “You left the twins by themselves out here?”

“They’re safe,” Zallie said frowning at him, “the herd will look after them.” 

Nicco tried to use any of the tricks that Rin and Del had taught him about being calm but none of them worked. The idea that Zallie had casually left her brothers out in the jungle to be eaten by Tivali knows what was beyond comprehension.

“Come on. They won’t wait around forever.” 

She turned and pulled him further into the jungle. Nicco felt like the world was suddenly closing in around him. He’d heard of stories of Jedi turning to the darkside and the terrors that could bring. Even though his sister wasn’t a Jedi by any stretch of the imagination, she could use the Force. Maybe she could also turn to the darkside? 

They rounded the corner and the densely-packed trees of the jungle gave way to a clearing. On one side, perched on a fallen tree trunk that was taller than he was, the twins sat waving cheerfully. Nicco felt like his heart restarted in his chest as he looked at their mops of blonde hair and grubby faces. 

“See?” Zallie said pointing at them, “I told you they were alright. It’s not like I was going to leave them out here for something to eat.” 

A bubble of hysterical, angry laughter rose up inside him. All the worry and fear for nothing. He turned to look at Zallie who was regarding him seriously, her head tilted to one side. 

“So why are we here?” he asked, trying to let the anger go and almost succeeding. 

“For them.” Zallie waved a hand past the fallen tree and Nicco looked up to see a huge herd of Bergruufta grazing peacefully. He knew about Bergruufta. They had been a desert animal, but their immense size and strength meant they’d been transported to nearly every corner of the galaxy. 

“They’re wild.” Zallie said softly, almost pre-empting his question, “and I was going to ask them if they could help us.”

“You were going to ask them?” Nicco asked sizing up the huge animals who were watching the newcomers with interest. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised though. Zallie brought home animals like it was a competition. Each of them named and their whole histories explained to anyone who would listen. Considering that she could make the occasional _rube_ they encountered bend to her will whenever the parents weren’t watching, it shouldn’t have surprised him that she could do it to animals too. 

“Yeah, I need you here because I don’t know how to hook up _The Lady_ to make sure we can pull her out of the jungle without doing more damage. I didn’t want to ask Da, he’s still too angry because of Mrs Grumpy.” She looked down at the ground and scuffed the toe of her shoe into the dirt. He dropped down into the trampled leaf litter and forest grass and took her by the shoulders. 

“Ask,” Nicco said, trying to keep his voice gentle. “I think it’s a great idea. We’ll work out how we can slide _The Lady_ through the forest if they’ll help us.” 

Zallie gave him a soft, sad smile. 

“Do you think Da will still be angry with me if we get _The Lady_ out?” 

Nicco shook his head. His Father had many problems but staying angry at his children had never been one of them. 

“No sprout. I think he’ll be really proud. I am. You thought of a really good way of getting us out of here” 

Her face lit up at the compliment. She skipped forward through the huge legs of the beasts who stood silently and still until she reached what Del assumed was the Matriarch of the herd. Zallie smiled up at it without saying anything and the big beast lowered its head until it was almost touching hers. A moment later Zallie turned and smiled at Del. 

“They said they’d help!” she yelled. Nicco gave her a thumbs up, not sure about what else he could really say. He couldn’t wait to see the rest of the family’s expression when Zallie brought home her latest pet. 


	8. Pet 12  – Yowler – The Troupe – 31 BBY – 9 and 9 months and a bit more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lady has crashed, but Zallie has found a way for the Family to get the beloved ship out of the Forest. But first, they need to get it past the Yowlers...

Kit sat backwards on the back of the swaying Bergruufta. Behind her the rest of the herd swayed together almost like a dance as they pulled _The Lady_ behind them. Del had been worried that there was no track or trail but the Bergruufta had made one as they walked, stripping the trees of their branches and vegetation and shouldering the larger ones out of the way. The constant streams of drool that seemed to pool and pour from their mouths had also turned out to be a perfect, if disgusting lubricant that kept _The Lady_ moving over the wet, forest floor. 

Kit was enjoying this, out here she could use the Force freely to get Del’s beloved ship where it needed to be and to assist in making the vehicle as light as possible to ease the struggle of her daughter’s new giant friends. 

Kit frowned to herself as she watched Del yell instructions to F’kisi and Nicco about keeping _The Lady_ straight and which lines needed tensioning. She would have to talk to him later about Zallie. She could hear her daughter’s song humming through The Force, a trilling melody of happy strings and tinkling keys. A sound that she’d learnt only came when Zallie was around animals. A sound that, she shook her head in self-recrimination, should have alerted her to the Gizka. It would have alerted her if it hadn’t been for… 

Kithera stopped the thought before it came and rubbed her swollen and stretched belly with the palm of her hand, feeling the baby kick in response. Her daughter worried her in ways that she couldn’t quite put into words. Her affinity with animals and her growing ability with manipulating the Force could go in one of two directions. 

Kit had never seen a Beastwarden but Master Zahalin had told her tales of them when Kithera had been just apprenticed, but she’d never pursued it or tried to look into it further. Animals and study had never interested her in the way that dance and music had. 

Maybe if she’d stayed at the temple then Zallie’s ability would have been recognised and fostered but…Kit shook her head. There was never any good in looking back and wondering how life could have been different. 

She’d lost years of her life doing exactly that after her Master had died and the façade she had built herself in doing so had almost destroyed her. She and Del would have to protect Zallie and even though her partner had been stripped away from The Force, he was a far better teacher than she. 

They would surround Zallie with the love of the Family, just as they would for all their other children. That would keep her from going off the path and into the darkness, that would keep her daughter safe. 

There was a hoot of noise from up ahead and Kit felt a warning clash through The Force. Nicco and Estra paused below her in the gloom of the undergrowth, their heads whipping around to the exact point where the noise was coming from. Kit’s brow furrowed again, it was strange. For two teens, one teen and one young adult, she corrected herself, who couldn’t use the Force they seemed, at times, remarkably too perceptive of the world around them. The hoot sounded again and was joined by a chorus of screams and yells. 

“Rin?” Del’s voice floated up to her, “what can you see?” 

Kit shifted, as much as her pregnant body would allow and saw a flash of brown and green fur through the canopy. She winced. 

“Yowlers.” She called down. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what the little simians were called. The twins had called them that after their first raid on _The Lady._ They had done no damage just hollered and shrieked and pelted the ship with everything they could lay their tiny, dirty little hands on. 

“You need to get down from there.” Del’s voice had an edge, “I don’t want you up there if they attack.” 

Kit threw her hands in the air. For someone who was intelligent Del could also be immensely dense. How he expected her to heave her seven-month pregnant belly over the side of Bergruutfa and land gracefully on the forest floor was incomprehensible.

“Sure…how would you like me to do that?” She called back. Below her Del scowled and threw his own hands in the air. 

“You got up there. Now you get down.” 

Kit was about to reply when the music changed. She’d gotten better at listening to the music. It no longer filled all of her making it almost impossible to think about anything else, like it had when she was younger. It was still there and sometimes it still overwhelmed her, but she had gotten better at letting it slide past her and over her, bending to the noise rather than standing still in its path. 

She twisted to stare over her shoulder. Behind her Zallie was standing on the back of the Matriarch, her hands outstretched her face concentrating. She wiggled her hand in a way that made Kit scowl. She thought she’d banned Zallie from doing ‘the hand thingy’ without her present to guide her. 

She thought about calling out but Zallie’s head tilted on one side and she made a noise and the next thing a Yowler leapt from the trees. 

Kithera shrieked in terror as the tiny, brown green monkey flew at her daughter, its long canines exposed, its mouth opened in noise. Then her daughter caught it and patted it soothingly. It looked at her and touched her face gently with the back of one paw and then snuggled against her. 

Around Kit the forest came alive with tiny, flying bodies all heading towards the Bergruufa who snorted and tossed their heads but didn’t move. 

“Rin, I’m coming up there. Push them off with The Force if you have to.” 

Her heart slowed as the tiny Yowlers regarded her warily. She opened her hand up and slowly extended it palm up. The tiny simian’s mouth twitched in what she assumed was a smile and it leapt at her, swinging around to land on her shoulder and natter into her ear.

“Rin?” Del’s voice sounded desperate and worried. 

“We’re okay.” Kit called down to him as three other yowlers joined their troupe mate on the back of the giant beast. “I think Zallie’s just managed to find another pet.” 

Behind her, her daughter’s music sang again. Loud and imploring and full of happiness and love.


	9. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zallie finds a new animals, makes a new friend and gives her sister a heart attack...

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Zallie was grinning from ear to ear. Estra nodded absentmindedly. 

“Sure, the Naboo Queens are always beautiful.” 

“No, not her. The Guarlara.” 

Estra looked up at the giant ungulate bearing the beautifully dressed young girl down the streets of Naboo.

“Sure, they’re nice too. Look sprout, we’ve got to focus on the people. No focusing on the Guara…”

“Guarlara.”

“Yep, that thing with the big mane and even bigger hooves. Try to find some sort of reasonable target. A bipedal, sentient and fabulously wealthy target. The crowd is going to make this both easy and hard sprout but you’ve had practice and you’ve got this. I’ll meet you by that lamppost in 30 minutes. If there are any problems or you think you’ve been made, scarper and lay low for a while. Got it?”

“Uh huh.” 

“Sprout.” 

“Got it. Got it.” 

Estra sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She had a bad feeling about this. 

*

Half an hour later Estra was standing at the lamp post and there was no sign of Zallie. She sighed. It was going to take a lot of explaining to both Del and Rin about how she’d managed to lose her kid sister in the middle of a parade. Even more explanation if Zallie had been caught with her hands in someone else’s pockets. 

“Hey you,” Estra almost jumped at the sound of the voice. She turned to see F’kisi regarding her. She gave him a smile and a nod trying to get her heart to stop hammering so hard in her chest. 

“Sprout is missing,” she said softly, “I told her if she was made to lay low but I didn’t think she’d actually need to. I don’t know what to tell Rin or Del.” 

“We’ve got a bigger problem,” the young man gestured off to one side. Estra turned slightly to see a flash of tan in the crowd. Estra groaned. A young Jedi padawan was meandering through the crowd, all long arms and legs and oddly dreadlocked hair for a Zabrak. If there was a padawan around that meant a Master somewhere too and that meant trouble for The Family. She leant against the lamp post almost willing Zallie to appear. 

“Come on Sprout,” she whispered under the breath. Another flash of tan in coming down the road. The young Zabrak padawan waved and started towards them. Estra tamped down on the sudden desire to run. Rin had done her best to teach them how to block a Jedi’s mental probing and it helped that she and Nicco seemed to be immune to any Force powers, but she didn’t want to have to test that theory on a pair of Jedi. 

She watched the bigger Jedi warily as he came down to meet his padawan and her heart sank when she saw that he was leading a happily, skipping Zallie by the hand. 

“Great.” She motioned up the hill towards them and this time it was F’kisi’s turn to groan. 

“How do you want to play this?” He asked quietly. Estra shook her head quietly, her brain scrambling for a plan. F’kisi was Eena’s nephew, foisted, as her father had initially put it, on them because he’d screwed up something so badly in his home world that he had been banished. Unwilling to see her nephew cast out by himself, Queen Eena had contacted Rin for a favour and the next minute F’kisi had been on-board. That had been four years ago and now he was part of the family. He touched her shoulder and she shrugged, trying to hold back the panic, anger and tears that threatened to overwhelm her. How could Sprout be so stupid as to get herself mixed up with a Jedi? 

“How about I take your stuff and meet you back at  _ The Lady _ ,” F’kisi said quietly. Estra could have hugged him and slapped him simultaneously for being so calm in the face of what had happened. “I’ll give the rest of The Family a head’s up and Del will come up with a plan.”

“What do I do?” Estra asked, realising that she sounded lost and panicked and hating herself for it. 

“Act like the terrified sister, you’re doing a bang-up job of it at the moment.”

She punched him on the shoulder frowning as the panic was replaced by anger. He laughed. 

“That’s better. There’s the Estra I know.” He leant forward and hugged her, throwing his cloak around her as he kissed her forehead. In a manoeuvre, they’d practiced so many times before, she transferred the contents of her pockets to him and leant her head against his chest. He gave a tiny start of surprise before she felt him relax. 

“You’ve got this,” he said quietly. “Tiviali will watch over you.” 

“You know I don’t believe in your Goddess,” Estra’s voice was less than convincing. 

“You don’t have to believe in her,” F’kisi’s voice was the infuriating quietness of conviction. “She just has to believe in you.” 

He kissed her head again and she felt her heart flutter and her face grow warm. Then he was away. Leaving her to face the Jedi and her sister alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rin, Del and Family are thieves. You would think two former Jedi might gave a moral quandary about being thieves considering their upbringing. This arc will explore that, plus there will be the appearance of a Canon character! Surprise!
> 
> Guarlara are canon animals - learn about them here - https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Guarlara_(Venator-class)


	10. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jedi Knight Kirsh’of Aleski is supposed to be enjoying a day at Naboo, watching the Guarlaras and enjoying his time. He did not expect to come across the Queen, a child with Force abilities, and the child's overly anxious 'sister'.

Kirsh watched the parade and the festivities with a smile. He was glad that he had decided to take Heilan here on their way home. It was nice for the boy to see some of the more populous areas of the galaxy rather than the dusty, forgotten, outer rim planets that they always were sent to for healing and mission work. 

Kirsh paused at one of the stalls that was selling Jogan fruit. He picked up one of the over-ripe fruits letting the sweet smell fill his senses as he closed his eyes. There was a flicker of colour through the Force and Kirsh opened his eyes to see the stall holder giving him a quizzical look. 

“Sorry,” Kirsh dug around in a pocket for some credits. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve had fresh Jogan fruit.”

He passed the credits to the man trying not to look as awkward as he felt and made his way back into the crowd. He was supposed to meet Heilan soon. 

He’d given his padawan the mission of finding out the news from the townspeople. It was a silly and almost pointless exercise seeing as this had just been a cursory stop on their way back to the temple.

Kirsh wasn’t expecting Heilan to find out anything other than gossip but it would be good for his normally shy and reticent padawan to extend his comfort zone and talk and listen to strangers. 

Kirsh leant against one of the brightly coloured light posts at the top of the hill, munching his fruit and watching the Guarlara come back to their stables, the nobility dismounting on the way. It was nice, he mused, nodding to several members of the Naboo nobility who glanced in his direction, to be a Jedi without a mission for once.

There was a flicker of teal and amber in the Force and Kirsh frowned slightly. 

_ //Idiot. That’s your fault for thinking you could get through a day without a problem presenting itself.// _

He turned his head slowly and regretfully to where the flicker had come from and almost sighed in relief. It was only a little girl, about eleven or twelve dressed in a pretty dress and a short red jacket, making her way through the crowds. She, too, was happily munching on a jogan fruit. 

Kirsh was about to turn away when there was another flicker. He watched as the girl slid past one of the members of the nobility, her hand flicked out and the next second there was a wallet sliding out of the owner’s pocket and into hers. 

Kirsh straightened, wondering if he should call out but also intrigued that no-one seemed to notice the small thief in their midst. He watched her do it two more times. The seemingly innocent, wandering child would cross paths with a noble and the next second would be holding something of value. 

Every time the same flash of colours as she, presumably, used the Force. 

Curious, Kirsh followed her as she made her way towards where the Guarlara were being stabled. She slipped inside without any of the stable hands noticing. 

Kirsh paused at the doorway, reaching out tentatively with the Force but his probing was rebuffed. His frown deepened. It was unusual to find a child who could so competently and easily use the Force outside of the Temple, let alone one who had what seemed like the simple but effective mental shields that were taught to padawans. Kirsh briefly wondered if she was a padawan, but the long brown hair and penchant for thievery would suggest otherwise. 

“Master Aleski!” Kirsh heard the call and turned to see Queen Amidala striding towards him. He bowed low and she nodded regally in return. “We did not expect the Jedi to be here at our Commemoration Day, although I would say you are very welcome.”

“Thank you, your Majesty,” Kirsh smiled at the young Queen. He’d only met her once before at some boring Senate function, but he remembered how passionately and intelligently she’d spoken. “Our arrival just before CommemorationDay was purely by happy accident, your Majesty. I felt my padawan was lacking the more cultured way of life and so thought this would be an interesting diversion and experience on our way back to the Temple.” 

“I don’t believe I’ve met your padawan,” Queen Amidala smiled at him again motioning him to walk with her into the stables. 

“I believe not your Majesty, I do believe he had some sort of stomach flu last time we met. Heilan is a healer like myself. A quiet and shy padawan, despite my best efforts to make him otherwise.”

He gave a small chuckle and her smile broadened, 

“I’m sure he’ll be wise just like his Master.”

“I hope he’ll be wiser than his Master, your Majesty.” 

They rounded the corner and Kirsh held his hand up as the Force flared warning colours again. The Queen stiffened. Of course she trusted the Jedi, Kirsh reminded himself, she’d had to when the Naboo blockade had happened only a few years before. There was the bark of a small hound and a child’s voice raised in annoyance. 

“No. I said you go over there.” 

Kirsh slipped his arm from her Majesty’s grasp and shuffled quietly up to the corner. Looking around the stall he could see the tiny thief talking to a small yapping hound. Her other hand was outstretched, palm flat, so that the giant Gurlara could eat the fruit she was holding. 

“No, stop barking,” the girl said. She waved her fingers and the hound immediately quieted. “I know what you want and I don’t have it.” 

Kirsh frowned as the Force swirled with the familiar deep silver streaked blue that always represented a mind trick. The Queen stepped forward behind him and straw crunched beneath her feet. The girl looked up at where he was standing, watching her and gave him a worried smile.

“Who are you?” she asked quietly, warily. Kirsh turned slightly and motioned to the Queen. 

“It is safe your Majesty.” He turned back to the girl. “I am Master Aleski, and this is Queen Amidala. What’s your name?”

“How did you get in here?” Amidala asked obviously concerned.

“I’m Zallie.” The girl looked back at the giant animal and then at the Queen and shrugged. “I just walked in.” 

Kirsh nodded and sighed. “She did just walk in your Majesty. I was watching her.” 

“What’s her name?” the child asked, patting the Guarlara’s nose. 

“Laluna,” the Queen said, walking forward to stand next to her. The beast snorted and shook its head before nuzzling the Queen’s shoulder. 

“She likes you,” Zallie said smiling. 

“She should. She’s my favourite Guarlara.” The Queen smiled and patted the girl’s head, “I’m more impressed she likes you so much. Normally she doesn’t like strangers.” 

The girl shrugged. “All animals like me. Can I ride her?”

The Queen laughed, “Not today. Maybe tomorrow? I’ll talk to the stable hands and perhaps if you come back tomorrow with your parents you can ride her.” 

The girl’s face was wreathed in smiles. She leapt forward to hug Amidala, Kirsh went to block the move but the Queen waved him away and leant forward into the hug. There was another quieter splash of teal amongst the swirling colours and Kirsh frowned. 

“Perhaps,” he said after a moment, “we should go and find your parents.” 

The girl straightened and suddenly looked alarmed. 

“I think I was supposed to meet my sister a little while ago,” she said quietly. “I should go before she gets mad.” She turned and smiled at the Queen again. “Thank you for letting me talk with LaLuna.” 

Amidala gave a bemused grin at the odd turn of phrase and turned back to Kirsh. 

“Perhaps you should go with her Master Jedi, so she doesn’t get in trouble.” 

“No, I’ll be right. I can get there myself.” The fingers wiggled again and Kirsh felt the suggestion bounce off his own shield. The girl looked slightly alarmed but quickly tried to hide it behind another smile. 

“No,” Kirsh said quietly and firmly. “I would like to make sure you get back to your sister safely.” 

Zallie gave a quick, nervous nod and then turned back and clumsily curtseyed at the Queen. 

“Thank you again. See you tomorrow?” Without waiting for an answer, she began skipping her way to the door. Amidala turned to Kirsh. 

“You’ll let me know what you find out about her family, won’t you?” she asked. Kirsh twisted his mouth in a wry smile. So it was true what Obi-Wan had said, the Queen was more perceptive then she let on. 

“I’ll keep you informed, your Majesty,” he said with a tiny bow and then ducked quickly after the girl. 

Kirsh met her at the doorway. Obviously surprising her. “Let’s find your sister.” 

The girl looked him up and down obviously deciding whether or not she’d bolt. “I move fast,” Kirsh said, answering her unasked question. “I can use the Force too. I think it’s better if I meet your sister.” 

She nodded, the smile disappearing. Kirsh filed away that she hadn’t asked what the Force was or even seemed slightly confused by his mention of it. He reached out a hand and she took it. 

“So where is your sister?” Kirsh asked. 

The girl pointed down the hill to where Kirsh could make out a young couple down at the light. 

“There’s my sister Estra.” 

Kirsh watched as the young man threw his cloak around the young woman and held her close.

“Who’s that with her?” Kirsh asked, looking at the tall, broad-shouldered, brown-skinned young man as he kissed the girl on the forehead and untangled himself. A second later he’d disappeared into the crowd.

“That’s F’kisi,” Zallie shrugged. “He’s not my brother. He just lives with us.” 

“Where do you live?” Kirsh asked quietly. 

“Who’s that?” Zallie asked ignoring this question and pointing to where Heilan was making his way up the hill towards them waving. 

“That’s my padawan Heilan.” Kirsh said watching his padawan try to carefully pick his way through the crowds. It didn’t matter than Heilan was just past twenty and therefore, theoretically, long past the awkward teenage stage where their limbs didn’t quite fit. The young man moved like his feet and hands were too big for his body to properly control. If he hadn’t turned out to be such a gentle and tender healer, Kirsh would have despaired. Heilan still looked like a newborn nerf calf finding its legs when faced with an opponent on the training mat. 

“Master,” the young man was smiling, “I found out quite a bit of information.”

“That’s good,” Kirsh said glancing down at Zallie’s curious face. “How about you tell me later? First we need to give the little miss here back to her sister.” 

Zallie scowled. 

“I’m not a little Miss. I’m Zallie.” 

She did the wobbly curtsey again and Kirsh frowned. He’d watched her move. The girl was anything but clumsy and the wobbles in the curtsey seemed to be more for affect rather than lack of practice. 

Kirsh sighed internally, so much for the holiday.

Apart from his promise to Queen Amidala, now even he wanted to find out who this was and why she could do what she did. They reached the light post and Zallie’s ‘sister’ who was trying, and failing, not to look both abjectly miserable, angry and terrified at the same time. 

“Where have you been?” The girl rounded on Zallie before anyone could get a word out. 

“I was feeding the Guarlana.” Zallie was pouting now, scuffing the toe of her boot against the ground. 

“You were supposed to meet me here ten minutes ago.” The girls’ voice had softened but Kirsh could still hear the anger and worry behind the words. He sent out a mental probe again but found that the young girl had almost no Force signature at all. The young woman gave him an annoyed sideways glance as the probe touched what should have been there but wasn’t. Kirsh tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible as his mind raced. 

“Thank you for finding her,” the young lady said, turning to face both Jedi and bobbing. “Now I need to take her home.” 

“It was my pleasure mistress…” Kirsh paused waiting for the girl to fill in the blanks. 

“Estra.” 

“Estra?” 

“Uh…” there was a confused second or two of silence as if she was scrambling for an answer and then “Estra D’La-dame.” 

_ //Of the Lady?// _ Heilan sent quizzically,  _ //Why does that sound made-up Master?//  _

“It was lovely to meet you Miss D’La-dame,” Kirsh said aloud. “Miss Zallie.” 

“Nice to meet you too. Come on Zallie, let’s get home.” 

The young woman turned and took Zallie by the hand, almost dragging her through the crowd. Kirsh watched them go, thankful for once in his life that his height gave him the advantage when it came to looking over a crowd. 

“What was that about Master?” Heilan asked as they moved off together quietly and surreptitiously following the path of the two girls. “And why are we following them?”

“Need to get answers to a mystery padawan and then have tea with the Queen.” He saw Heilan’s customary blue-purple play of confusion through the bond. “What was your news padawan?”

“Uh, um… most people were just grateful for the Commemoration Day, but there are whispers that Akari is here. Things are going missing, a couple of break and enters that sort of thing. Nothing huge, just the normal rumour mill.”

Kirsh nodded concentrating on following where the two were in the crowd. The older one seemed more nervous than she should as she pushed and harried her sister. They stopped once or twice at a stall. Kirsh got the feeling that to most people they would seem normal but the illusion, to him at least, had been shattered. The girl with her strange abilities, the overly nervous sister, who on reflection, looked nothing like Zallie, and the fact that Akari was here made Kirsh wary. 

“What are we doing Master?” Heilan asked once more.

“Let’s call this an exercise in following those who don’t wish to be followed,” Kirsh said quietly pointing at the pair ahead. “Whatever happens we need to find where they live. We need to do so without letting them know we are following them. Got it?”

“Yes Master.”

“Good.”

“Oh and Master?”

“Yes, Heilan.”

“You’ve really got to come up with better exercise names.” 


	11. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls got away from the Jedi and are now heading back to the ship. Estra reflects on what it's like to have the most annoying sister in the Universe.

Estra pushed through the crowd feeling like her head would explode. She wished that she had Rin’s abilities in the Force so that she could check if the Jedi were following them. Every time she stopped at a stall to buy something or trade for information, she would try to surreptitiously look around to see if the gigantic Jedi Master or his gangly padawan was following them. Surely someone of that size wearing that ridiculous getup would stand out like a Hutt on Hoth. She didn't spot anyone following them.

Zallie wasn’t any help either. The girl either pouted or talked about the stupid giant Guar-whatevers. Estra frowned. She loved her little sister but she was also one of the most annoying creatures in the universe. Especially when you were trying to get anything done. Da often reminded her that she would have to wait for Zallie to grow up a little more and that she had been the same at that age, but Estra knew for a fact that she had never been quite as annoying or fixated as Zallie was. 

“So let me get this straight,” she said as she paid the stall holder slightly more than the fruit was worth and then waved away the change. “You just waltzed straight into the Queen’s stables because you wanted to talk to one of the Guarlaras.”

“Laluna,” Zallie corrected, “and yeah. No-one stopped me.”

“And you didn’t use the hand-wavy thing.”

“No.” 

Estra breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, I did on Master Aleski but it didn’t work.” 

Estra stopped dead in the middle of the crowd, earning several glares from the old ladies who had to step around them. 

“You tried to use the hand-wavy thing on some Jedi.”

“Well, yeah. I wanted to run like you said to do if I got caught, but Master Aleski said that he could move faster than me after I did the hand-wavy thing.” 

Estra thought about the massive Jedi who had towered over her. Surely Zallie could have run away from him. She glanced around again, trying to spot him through the crowds but there was no sign of him. Surely someone so huge would find it impossible to hide.

“And you met the Queen?” Estra frowned again. Zallie dodged around two old ladies arguing about cost and then smiled at her sister.

“I did. She’s really beautiful.”

“The Queen or the horse-thingy.”

“The Queen, silly. She said I could come ride Laluna tomorrow.”

“Sorry what?” Estra stopped again, dragging her sister into a side alley. 

“The Queen said that if Da and Mama come with me then I can ride Laluna.”

“Uh, sprout,” Eena had the sudden desire to rip her own hair out in frustration. “You want to take Da and Mama to the palace while it’s surrounded by guards and without a plan so that you can ride a Guara-thing-whatsamacallit.”

“Guarlara.”

“That thing. Yep.” 

Zallie pouted. “Why can’t I.”

“You know what Sprout? I’m going to let Da explain to you why that’s a bad idea. We just need to get home first. Did you at least have some success?”

The pout was gone, replaced by a vibrant smile.

“Yes. Want to see?” 

Estra blinked rapidly. “Uh, not here. Wait. Just wait.” 

She grabbed Zallie by the hand, the desire to get back to the safety of the ship and the family almost overwhelming her. 

“Yeah,” Zallie said, so softly that Estra missed it in the noise of the crowd. “I even managed to steal something from the Queen.” 


	12. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Estra thinks they've gotten away clean, but she's about to be sorely disappointed.

F’kisi was waiting at the bottom of the boarding ramp. Estra nodded to him almost shoving Zallie ahead of her, desperate to get onto the ship. Inside she found the cargo bay suspiciously clear. Anything  _ hot _ had obviously been stashed away hurriedly in the many hidey-holes that littered  _ The Lady _ .

“Were you followed?” Her Da was standing in the mess, a blaster in one hand, another strapped to his hip. Nicco was behind him lacing up his leathers. F’kisi had followed her in, his traditional ‘apai in one hand; the other held a blaster. 

“Hi Estra. How are you? Are you alright after you were accosted by a Jedi and had to drag Zallie, who I might add was no sithing help at all through the markets. I don’t know if she even managed to pick something up.”

“I did.” Zallie stomped her foot and pouted. “It’s a good thing too.” 

“You stole something from a noble? Good going sprout, ” Nicco said, smiling at his sister. 

Estra had the sudden desire to scream and cry and hit something all at once. She settled for throwing a cup at her brother. Nicco ducked and it smashed against the wall. Her father just looked at her and raised one eyebrow.

“I’m sorry Essie, how are you going?”

“I’m fine,” Estra grumbled, crossing her arms. 

“Excellent. I’m glad to hear it. So, were you followed?”

“No.” 

“Yes.” 

Estra rounded on Zallie. “What do you mean we were followed? Why didn’t you say something.”

“You didn’t ask.” Zallie was pouting and Estra wanted to shake her. “You were being too angry with me to listen.” 

“Me angry? I’ll show you angry!“

Estra went to pounce on her sister but F’kisi grabbed her, throwing his arms around her and holding her close as Zallie scooted over to where Nicco stood. 

“Stop.” Her Da’s voice cut across the squabble like silken steel. “It’s too late now. Zallie. Next time you tell Estra. Not telling someone when the Force tells you something is not okay in this family. Estra, take five big breaths.”

“But-“

“Five. F’kisi will count them.” 

“Surely Rin can just hand-wave them away,” F’kisi suggested. 

“She’s feeding Quin and I’m not going to interrupt her. Also she can’t wave away two. Not even one. She’s well out of practice and Jedi aren’t your normal run of the mill people. I’ll go out and see what they want. The rest of you to your places.” 

There was a general scramble. Zallie looked like she was going to say something but Estra glared at her and the girl stuck out her tongue at her sister as she quietly took the twins and led them from the room. 

“No coming out Zallie. Not until someone calls you.” Del reminded her, patting her on the way past. Estra watched her father size up the three young adults in front of him once they’d heard Zallie’s door lock. 

“Jedi are good hunters Essie, you wouldn’t have seen them. Any other intel.” 

“Both male. One Master, one padawan. Master is human, padawan is zabrak. Zallie tried to use her hand-thingy on them.”

Del swore in several languages. 

“Great. So there will be questions. Rin and I are going to have to start taking that child’s training a bit more seriously. If we get through this.” 

“If?” F’kisi sounded suddenly worried.

“Once. I’m sure it’ll all be explainable. Estra, you need to go to the turret guns.”

“But that’s Nicco’s job.” Estra could feel her resentment growing. Just because she was a girl and she couldn’t use the stupid Force, her father never took her seriously. 

“You aren’t dressed for combat and he is. Go to the guns.” Her father’s voice was steel. “Nicco and F’kisi to the door but not out of it. We’ll wait and see what they do. Estra grit her teeth, letting all the anger and frustration play upon her face. As she went to push past her father he grabbed her shoulders and bent his head to hers. 

“I’m proud of you Essie. If you were dressed and ready then I’d have you at my side in a second, but I can’t let something so precious be harmed. I just can’t lose you.” 

Estra felt part of the anger that she’d been building slide away. She let out a pent out breath. 

“Fine Da, I’ll go to the guns. Just stay safe. What do you think they’ll do?” 

“I don’t know,” Del shrugged, “if it was me twenty years ago, I’d probably just knock.” 


	13. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirsh and Heilan investigate Zallie and Estra's family.

“So, padawan, what can you feel?” Kirsh asked. They were standing at the edge of the shipping pads, staring at the old Class-E ship that the girls had gone into. Kirsh had noted the young man they’d seen earlier with Estra. He noted the blaster and the huge clubbed weapon along with the way he held it, totally at ease with himself and his place in the world now he was near home. Kirsh frowned. Both Jedi had cloaked their Force signatures as they’d entered the lot and Kirsh briefly wondered if the younger girl had noted that they’d been followed. 

He doubted it. 

The way that the older one had harried her younger sister along and Zallie’s compliance would suggest that her abilities didn’t extend that far. 

The ships down here were the poorer kind, traders and family ships that were using the outer reaches of the transport hub as a parking ground during Commemoration Day. 

He watched his padawan close his eyes and extend a hand towards the ship, beneath Heilan’s feet the grass trembled slightly and Kirsh smiled bemusedly. It didn’t seem to matter how much they tried to work on Heilan using the Force for one intention only, it always seemed to spill out into the surrounding landscape. 

After a moment, he opened his eyes and frowned at his Master. 

“Eight life signs. I think three adults, four children and an infant.”

“Good work Padawan,” Kirsh smiled. His padawan was out by one but it wasn’t his fault. Even at this distance, Kirsh could see the flickering colours on the ship. One of them had flared briefly as Heilan had begun his count, a motley of colours that picked at his memory before it went out. That was going to complicate things, although it went some ways towards explaining why the young girl could do what she did. 

He sighed. 

“Zallie isn’t the only Sensitive on that ship. We need to be careful padawan. How do you think we should approach this?” 

Heilan took a moment to consider it. 

“We could just knock?”

Kirsh laughed. “Fantastic suggestion Padawan. Consider it done.”

Kirsh ambled slowly across the grass towards the ship, Heilan following behind him. 

“Just mind that gun turret.” Kirsh motioned to where the gun turret was turning in a lazy arc to face them. Heilan’s hand went down to where his lightsaber hung, clipped to his belt but Kirsh shook his head. 

“What emotions do you feel, padawan?” 

“Uh, frustration, fear, worry and…something else…I.” He turned his big, brown eyes on Kirsh in alarm. “There’s someone shielding in there Master.” 

Kirsh nodded. “You’re right padawan. One more adult but I can’t get a read on them.” 

He frowned again at the memory of the colours, they were vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place it. It tugged at him; worried the edges of his thoughts. He shook his head to get rid of it. “But the emotions mean that we need a light touch. We go in there lightsabers lit, there will be trouble.” 

Heilan nodded. By now they’d come all the way up to the gangway. 

“What do we do now Master?” Heilan asked quietly. 

“Exactly what you said you’d do padawan. You knock.” 


	14. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter. Del grapples with how to keep his daughter from doing something stupid, while reflecting on the fact that Jedi don't always make friends wherever they go.

Del stood by the door, blaster in hand. He could hear Estra’s running commentary from the gun turret as the two Jedi had made their way nonchalantly across the field. He’d had to talk his daughter down from blasting them twice. 

He could understand her frustration. 

She felt that she’d been duped, both by her sister and then again by the way that the Jedi had just followed her without her ever being aware. The fact that now they were just “ _ meandering without a care in the world _ ” as she’d put it must have been especially galling. 

Del knew the walk.

It had been his walk for a long time. It was the one that said that you didn’t have a care in the world because you were the  _ superior force _ and that you were just going to be here for a  _ friendly chat _ and that the people you were chatting with should definitely  _ ignore _ the shiny metal cylinder of death that hung from your waist because that was the  _ sensible thing to do _ . 

Del occasionally still used that walk, but he’d long ago swapped the cylinder of death for a blaster and his walk didn’t ask you to ignore all those quiet thoughts that spelled impending doom but to listen to them very, very carefully. He briefly wondered if he should get Kit down but decided against it. She had said that she was going to feed Quin, and Del knew how hard that was. 

Their last born had been almost a month early, and she was tiny, sickly and frail. 

Del had watched his normally bubbly partner become a shell of herself. Instead of retreating she’d become almost manic, trying to sort people and things, bouncing from one place to another and never stopping. Giggling and smiling and being silly as if acting that way would make the whole world alright again. 

It was only late at night when she thought no-body was watching that he saw her crumple into herself. He’d only seen that once before, back on  _ that trip _ . He hadn’t known what to do then because it had been his fault and he didn’t know what to do now because Quin’s early birth felt like his fault too. 

He couldn’t help but think that the Gizka’s arrival and their subsequent crash had been too stressful and had brought labour on early. 

His list of  _ if onlys _ was long and terrible and felt, sometimes, like they ate him from the inside. 

She didn’t need this. 

They would see the Jedi off and Kit could keep her new life away from the prying eyes of the Temple. 

“Come on.” Del’s voice was a growl. His hand rested on the top of his blaster as his frustration grew. He knew the Jedi nonchalance, the hubris and the expectation that theirs was the only  _ right _ way in the world and at this moment he hated all of it. 

There was a knock.


	15. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 7)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kithera grapples with trying to control everything in her life, when all she wants is the baby to stay asleep.

Up in the bedroom Kit looked at Quin’s tiny, pink face. Her littlest daughter lay on her back, fists curled as if she could fight the world. Kithera breathed out a long sigh of relief. It had taken an hour to feed her and then another to get her to sleep. Even though she’d finally managed it, she knew, even with the help of The Force, the sleep would only be a short one. 

She looked at her daughter’s tiny hands, the soft down on her face, the light blue tinge around her mouth and closed her eyes as she felt the wash of guilt and fear sweep over her. She carefully lay back on the bed, one hand still resting on her daughter’s sleeping body. Kit knew the gesture was comfort for both of them. Quin loved the heat and the pressure and Kithera needed the reassurance that her tiny daughter still breathed. 

Not for the first time in her life, she cursed her own inability to use the Force to heal. A baby like Quin would have been a walk in the park for any Jedi Healer but she simply didn’t have the ability. 

She closed her eyes, grateful that Del had organised Estra to take Zallie to see the Guarlara and that Nicco had promised to keep the twins away for a bit. She loved her family but they were exhausting, especially with Quin to care for. 

She relaxed, listening to the melody of life that normally flowed through the ship. The burble of cheerful music suddenly changed. She could hear F’kisi’s worry and Del’s returning phrase. She breathed out and tried to relax. Del would have this. 

She was almost asleep when Estra and Zallie’s melody joined the rest of the family. Anger on Estra’s part and defiance from Zallie. Kit sat up. Quin whimpered at the change in pressure and emotion and Kithera heart broke at the noise. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Another sound just on the edges of her senses made her gasp and mentally clamber to set her own shields in place. There were Jedi out there. She breathed deeply. They were just Jedi. They would not hurt them if they did the right thing. Clenched and unclenched her fists willing herself to calm. Her family would be setting up their defences and, if he was worried, Del would have called her. 

She looked down at her restlessly sleeping daughter and made a decision. If there were Jedi then she needed to be with her family. Slowly Kit got to her feet and tucked Quin in firmly, hoping that the weight of the blankets would be enough to trick her infant brain into believing that her mother was still there. Making her way down the passage, she heard the knock. 

The Lady give her now familiar creak and whine as the gang plank slid down. As she passed through the kitchen Kit called her lightsabre from where it hung on the wall, feeling its comforting and familiar weight in her hand. It had taken many arguments with Del before he’d consented to hang both lightsabers there, but she was glad she’d finally prevailed. 

As she came to the top of the balustrade that surrounded the cargo bay doors she could hear Del talking to someone outside. The voice sounded familiar and tears sprung into the corner of Kit’s eyes. He was here. He would save Quin. Dropping her shields, she vaulted over the balustrade and ran across the cargo bay as fast as the Force and her legs would carry her. She was vaguely aware of the hiss, snap of a green lightsabre and the Family’s raised weapons in response but she didn’t care. She landed on his chest, bowling him over onto the dusty grass, laughing and crying all at once. 

Under her, Kirsh was laughing in response, motioning to his padawan to back down. He looked up at Kit’s beaming face and grinned. 

“Why Mistress Rinani, fancy meeting you here.”


	16. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 8)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Family's secret is revealed and Kit and Del have to deal with some heartbreaking news about their youngest daughter.

Kirsh put his mug down on the table and gave a long sigh. Kithera was sitting on the chair next to him. He and Heilan had ended up staying for lunch, which Kit had sent a very grumpy Estra and far calmer F’kisi off to buy. Kirsh suspected that was less because they needed the food and more because his friend had seen the look that Estra had given him when she’d come down from the gun tower. Now they were sitting outside in the warm, spring air waiting for them to return while Kithera filled him in on everything that had occurred in the last ten years. On the other side of the ship Heilan was showing Zallie and Kit’s twin boys how to do simple Force tricks, while the oldest boy, Nicco, he thought Kit had called him, watched on trying not to look interested and failing. Kirsh had thought about stopping this, but had figured that it was good for him to teach something and nothing he had seen so far was outside the realms of what his friend’s daughter could already do. 

“That’s a doozy of a story Kit.”

“I know, but it’s true.” She shrugged. 

“And that’s really how you met Del.”

“Yes.”

“That’s quite remarkable.”

“Yeah, probably. I don’t know. Things seem to happen and we’re just along for the ride. I used to fight so hard against it, but now I’ve learnt, or I’m trying to learn, just to go with the flow.” Kit shrugged again.

“And Nicco and Estra are Del’s kids.”

“Yep, their mother walked out one night and never came back.” Del patted the back of Kit’s chair as he passed. She glanced up at him and smiled and there was a brief curl of pink and gold ribbon that passed between them. Kirsh frowned. That wasn’t usual in someone who had been cut from the Force. Normally the ribbon would curl into nothing but there had been a brief almost invisible flicker in return. Del must have misinterpreted his frown because the older man’s own frown deepened as he sat down, obviously defensive. “She didn’t come back and I didn’t look. I had two mouths to feed and worry about. It was her choice.” Del was carrying the baby, carefully and gently like he would break it. 

“And now you have many more mouths to feed,” Kirsh said smiling. “Nicco and Estra are a credit to you. As are Zallie and the twins.” He tipped his almost empty tea cup towards Del in a gesture of solidarity. 

“Do you want another cup?” Kithera motioned towards where the teapot sat half empty as if trying to break the tension. Kirsh nodded. He knew that Del was sizing him up, trying to work out how much of a threat he was to his family, but he didn’t care. Let the man think what he wanted, he knew that Kit would put him right and it wasn’t Kirsh’s place to interfere in their relationship. Instead he focused on the little girl in Del’s arms. Even swaddled tight, he could see the masses of red and grey that surrounded her. 

“That would be lovely,” he said smiling at Kit who was pouring a cup. “May I see her?”

Del eyed him for a second and Kirsh simply smiled more broadly. 

“I can understand your reluctance to accept help from the Jedi, but my goal is to help and heal and if that goes against the mandates of the Council then so be it.” 

“He’s fine, Del,” Kit said patting his leg. “I trust Kirsh with my life. I trust him with Quin’s too.” 

Del nodded and gently, carefully handed over the baby. Kirsh looked at the tiny infant as Del handed her over and gently unswaddled her. She was so tiny that she looked like she would break. She gave a plaintive wail as he undid the swaddles and Kirsh could see Kit’s body tense. He looked up at her and tried to plaster a reassuring smile on his face. He failed. Their bond, or what was left of it, had obviously shown his worry because beside him Kit was looking paler. Del leaned forward. 

“What is it?” he asked quietly. On the other side of the ship, Heilan’s head came up as he sensed his Master’s unease. 

“I can do some,” Kirsh said after a moment. “Help her to feed and breath better but”- he paused- “she needs more than my help. She has a hole in her heart. She needs a doctor Kit, or a Master Healer. Better still would be both. An-Paj and Leona would put this to rights in an afternoon.”

Del stood up, knocking his chair over in frustration. “But we don’t have access to An-Paj or Leona.” He glared at Kirsh. “We aren’t Jedi anymore, so there is no magical place for us to go to put it right again.” 

Kirsh looked across at Kit who was still pale. 

“I’m sure we can work out something,” Kirsh said. “There has to be a way. Coruscant-”

“We don’t have the money either,” Del snapped. Kirsh realised that Zallie had come to stand next to Del. The little girl reached up and patted his arm. 

“It’s okay, Da. We can get the money.” Zallie said quietly. Kirsh watched the anger and frustration drain out of the former Jedi. 

“And how would we do that sweet?” he asked as he dropped down next to her. 

“We could sell this?” The girl pulled a trinket out of her pocket. It didn’t look like much, just a little box carved with intricate patterns. 

“And what’s that sprout?” Nicco had joined them too now. Kirsh noted that he might have been talking to his sister but his eyes were on Kirsh and his hand was resting on his blaster. 

“I don’t know. I stole it from the Queen, so it has to be valuable, right?”

There was a loud snort of laughter from Kit who quickly covered her face with both hands. The laughter had an almost hysterical edge to it as it turned into sobs. 

At the sound of the first breathy cry, the whole family moved as if it was one. Del was by Kit’s side, one hand on her shoulder. Nicco had grabbed Zallie close to him and pulled his blaster out. Kirsh’s padawan, Heilan had moved too, standing up from the only patch of dusty grass in the lot, his lightsaber unlit in his hands. Kirsh heard a yell and saw Estra bolting towards them, while F’kisi stumbled after her, shopping bags still on his arms. He gently lowered Quin into his lap and held both hands in the air. 

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he said, trying to project the blue-purple glow of reassurance, “I’m a Jedi who is trying to get home. I’m not Pynde-gard, rules are there to be useful, not to be weapons.” 

There was a moment of silence until Estra reached them. Quin let out a tiny whimper and without thinking Kirsh gathered her close, murmuring and sending healing waves out. Kit scrubbed the tears from her face. 

“So, you know us for what we are,” she said into the silence. Kirsh could see the fear and worry etched on his friend’s face. He nodded. 

“I suspected when I saw Zallie pickpocket from the nobles of Naboo.” 

Estra glared at her sister. 

“See, I told you-” she started up. Kirsh held up one of his enormous hands to stall her. 

“I only saw her because I’m a Jedi. Although Jedi don’t usually condone stealing, she did it very well.”

Heilan had moved closer too and Kirsh watched with slight bemusement as the twins, oblivious to the tension, copied the older boy’s stance.

“So, what’s your plan then?” Del asked quietly, eyes narrowing. Kirsh tried for a reassuring smile. 

“I grew up alongside the most mischievous padawans in the temple. So I’m not your average Jedi when it comes to how far the rules need to bend before they break. I can sense no evil here, no fall to the darkside, just love.” He rubbed his forehead. “So my plan is to have lunch.”

“That’s it?” The scepticism dripped from Estra’s voice. 

“That’s it,” Kirsh said. “Lunch and then to help Quin as much as I am able and while we do all of that we’ll figure out a plan to help her.” He held up a hand before there were any more protests. “Help that doesn’t involve the Council or questions, or”- and this he addressed to Zallie who was scuffing the toe of her shoe into the dirt - “stealing from the Queen of Naboo.” 

Kirsh looked over to where Del was standing behind Kit. The look of immense relief on his friend’s face was marred only by the tear tracks and the red eyes. He glanced up at the older man who had his hands on Kit’s shoulders.

“You need to trust me Del,” he said quietly.“Not all Jedi are out to get you.” 


	17. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 9)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirsh and Heilan have tea with the Queen. Kirsh has to decide how much he reveals and how far he will go to protect his friend and her daughter.

“What did you discover Master Aleski,” Amidala leaned forward and poured a cup of tea into one of the gilt cups on the table. 

“Your little Miss Zallie belongs to a rather interesting family.” Kirsh said picking up the tea cup and taking a sip. It was a difficult path to work out exactly what he should or should not tell the Queen. Politics had been one class he’d never excelled in which was fine when you spent most of your time in villages on the outer rim, but here, in court, he suddenly wished he’d been paying far more attention to one of Master Khdue’s classes. 

“Interesting?” Amidala raised an eyebrow and added a delicate biscuit to the plate. The late afternoon sun filled the parlour with warmth, glinting off the gilt edges and burnishing the dark wood walls. Kirsh looked longingly at the delicate finger biscuits and wished he hadn’t eaten quite so much at lunch. Kithera had put on a good spread, although he got the feeling that the quantity of food was not the norm for the rather large family. It had been nice to talk and laugh with his friend after so long and he’d only reluctantly left after Heilan reminded him of the fact that the afternoon tea invitation had been for that afternoon. 

“She’s the daughter of a former Jedi Knight.” Kirsh took another sip of tea while he gauged Amidala’s reaction. The Queen’s only reaction was a tiny frown which quickly disappeared. Obviously, Amidala would have excelled if she’d ever had the possibility of studying under Master Khdue. 

“I didn’t think Jedi left the temple,” Amidala made a show of taking a bite from her biscuit. 

“Kithera Rinani isn’t your typical Jedi knight,” Kirsh said with slight grin, “she’s always had her own ideas about what Jedi should be allowed to do. She and the Council had some disagreements-“

Across the room Heilan choked on his biscuit. Kirsh glared at his padawan who set his plate back on the table. He’d filled Heilan in on some of his adventures as a padawan on their way back to the palace. 

“Sorry, breathed in some crumbs.” Heilan said picking up a napkin, his face turning red. 

“-so eventually Knight Rinani left. She’s now travelling with her rather extensive family. Zallie is her daughter.”

There was a moment’s silence as Amidala finished the biscuit and processed the information. 

“I have,” she said quietly, “always wondered how leaving the Order would work for a Jedi. The Council basically lets someone with a very  _ unique _ set of skills out into the galaxy. What happens if they fall to the” she paused, “what do you call it? The dark side?” 

Kirsh frowned into his own cup. There had always been debate about what happened to Jedi who left. Many times, they were never heard of again and he’d assumed that the Council kept tabs on them. Having talked to Kit that afternoon and now knowing who Del was, he was less sure. However, he knew what he’d seen and felt that afternoon. 

“It’s a good philosophical question, your Majesty.” Kirsh admitted quietly, “but when it comes to Kithera there is no chance she will fall to the darkside. I can vouch for her as my friend.”

There was a quiet knock at the door and then a young handmaiden entered. She shook her head to Amidala’s enquiring glance. 

“We couldn’t find it anywhere,” the young girl said. “We’ve searched the royal apartments and the stables. It may have dropped somewhere along the parade route…”

Amidala shook her head, a worried and somewhat sad look on her face. 

“I know I had it when I got off Laluna,” she said quietly, “I remember checking it.”

“May I ask, Ma’am, what it is that you have lost?” Kirsh couldn’t help but think of Zallie’s brash outburst at the ship and the small box she’d held in her hand. He saw Heilan’s eyes widen as the same thought occurred to him.

_ //Hush padawan,// _ he sent through the bond,  _ //there will be a way out of this without implicating Zallie.// _

_ //She’s a thief, Master. The code is pretty clear on this. Her choice also has to lead to a consequence. Regardless of your friendship with her mother. // _

Kirsh frowned slightly. His padawan was not normally so outspoken. 

_ //We will discuss the code and all its intricacies later//  _ Kirsh sent hoping it would have the right amount of gravitas to keep his padawan in check. 

“A trinket,” Amidala said oblivious to the mental conversation going on around her, “my father gave it to me on my twelfth birthday. It’s just a little box but it’s the key to the jewellery chest he had carved for me. Without it I can’t get into the box. It’s sparkly and lovely but it’s not worth anything. I’m sure I dropped it somewhere and someone picked it up for me.” She took a sip of tea, but Kirsh could see the tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes. 

_ //Don’t say a word padawan// _

He gritted his teeth. So the jewel that Zallie had stolen turned out to be worth both nothing and everything. 

“Is Miss Zallie and her family going to be joining us tomorrow?” Amidala asked after a moment. Kirsh glanced at her to see that she had recovered.

_ Ever the politician _ . He mused to himself. Amidala had already proven herself capable in the skirmish with the Trade Federation, Kirsh could only imagine how powerful and important she could become to the Republic once her stint as ruler was over. 

“I don’t think wild Guarlaras could drag her away.” He paused and then grinned cheekily, “Actually, given her immediate bond with Laluna, I think wild Guarlaras could carry her away, but only if she was riding them.” 

Amidala laughed, light and genuine laughter that lit up her whole face.

“I am very keen to meet the whole family.” She said offering Heilan another biscuit. Kirsh frowned as his padawan slipped two onto his plate.

“I’m sure you will adore them,” Kirsh said genuinely, “and, I’m sure, your majesty that your lock box will turn up somewhere. I just feel it.” 

  
  



	18. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 10)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kithera and Del have a long talk about the dangers of taking a Jedi up on their offer.

“I don’t like this,” Del frowned as he raised the cup of caff to his mouth. 

“Don’t like what?” Kit was putting the plates back into the shelves after dinner. The younger children were all in bed. The late afternoon and early evening had been filled with confiscating sticks from the twins who had both decided that they were now Jedi and needed to go into battle, and listening to Zallie talk non-stop about riding the Guarlaras. The three older children had gone out together to see the nightlife of Naboo with promises that they would make no noise when they came home late and that they would stay out of trouble. That had left Kit and Del alone for once to make plans of how they would return the tiny box to the Queen without implicating their daughter. 

Kithera slid another plate into the right slot, trying not to let it smack against the other plates in case the noise woke Quin who was sleeping soundly in the sling against her chest. She had discovered she liked tidying the kitchen, it was strangely meditative to make sure everything found its rightful place and there was an odd sort of satisfaction when the place was clear. 

“Don’t like what?” She repeated when it was clear that Del wasn’t going to answer immediately. 

“I don’t like taking help from the Jedi.” Del’s face was set as his frown deepened. Kit sighed and made her way over to where he sat. The dishes could wait. 

“Why? Kirsh is a friend. He’s been my friend since, well, since forever. I trust him.” 

“It’s not Kirsh,” Del reached out and grasped Kit’s proffered hand, “he seems nice. It’s just that…” He trailed away. Kit closed her eyes wishing that her partner could get past his fear of being held accountable for things that were never his fault to begin with.

“I know this might sound like the pot giving advice to the kettle?”

“The what?” Del looked at her bewildered all of a sudden.

“It was one of Master Zahalin’s favourite sayings. I’m sure you would have heard it.”

He shook his head. “She must have picked it up after I was gone.”

This time it was Kit’s turn to shake her head, “it doesn’t matter. Basically I know I’m going to sound hypocritical but you have to stop blaming yourself for stuff outside of your control. For what happened to your Master, for what happened to Namia, for what happened to me.”

He scowled, and clenched his free hand and she could see his nails dig into his palm. 

“I can’t do that. Maybe for my Master but not for you and Namia. Not yet.”

“Fine.” It was an old argument and one she would eventually win, but not this night. “But you have to let it all go. For Quin’s sake. Let Kirsh help us. Neither Leona nor An-Paj are going to report either of us to the Council if Kirsh sets up the meeting. You heard what Kirsh said today, if Quin doesn’t get this operation then she dies.” Her voice trembled on the last words and she wiped furiously at her face, suddenly almost angry that he couldn’t see what his reluctance would cost them all. He looked at her and his shoulders slumped. 

“I’m sorry my love,” he said, squeezing her hand gently. His eyes looked miserable and all of a sudden really tired. “I am just scared at being found out is all. My Master would have told me to release my feelings into The Force,” he gave a low chuckle, “but I can’t even do that anymore.” 

She smiled at him and stood back up as the baby stirred. Quin liked it if she kept moving. She went back to stacking plates and cups away in the broody silence of the mess, so when Del next spoke it surprised her. 

“How about we take Kirsh and Heilan back to Coruscant,” Del said softly. She glanced towards him but he wasn’t looking at her, still just staring at the coarse brown liquid that coated the inside of his mug. “We have no more jobs in this sector and the kids have always wanted to go to that planet.” 

He glanced over at her as she stared at him head on the side, bewildered at this sudden turn of events. He shrugged, sliding out of the bench and dumping the remains of his caf into the sink before washing the cup. Realising she was still staring at him, he continued, “If we take them with us then you and Kirsh can help both Zallie and the twins get a bit more control over their abilities and I’ll look after Quin. It’ll give Nicco a bit more piloting experience too and we can make a holiday of it.” 

She bounced over to him, ignoring the plaintive cry of the baby. Her face was wreathed in smiles as she threw her arms around him. 

“You would do that?” She asked quietly. 

“For you, I’d do just about anything. And you never know, maybe it’ll get me over my apprehension,” he said softly, “and give us time to plan what we do when we get there.” 


	19. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short little chapter in which Kit and Estra have a heart to heart about the meaning of presents, family and how to return stolen items to the Queen

Kit looked across at her family. Every one of them had ‘scrubbed up well’ as Del’s friend Gazz’a would have put it.  _ The Lady _ had been a flurry of activity that morning as best clothes were found and children were washed and scrubbed. The morning had been filled with presents and cakes for Zallie’s naming day with Zallie declaring the best presents to be the riding jacket that Estra had made for her and the Guarala toy that Nicco had found at the evening markets. Kithera grinned at her daughter who was still twirling around in the jacket while hugging the toy and chatting at high speed to a rather bemused Nicco. Kithera wondered, and not for the first time, if she and Del should find a place for Estra to actually study the craft she did so well. Most of their clothes and costumes came from her ability with a needle and thread. Often the believability of a character or their ability to fit in for a job came down to how good Estra’s material stash was at any given moment. 

“You did a good job,” she said as Estra came to stand beside her. The young woman gave a tight-lipped smile. 

“If I had more time…” she said quietly pursing her lips as she appraised her handy work. 

“She loves it. You did an amazing job. You’re a good big sister Essie,” Kit smiled again but Estra just shook her head. 

“I almost didn’t give it to her because yesterday I was about ready to kill her. She literally brought Jedi to our door. It was Nicco that convinced me and he’s the one who bought the Guarlara doll. He’s a lot more forgiving then I am.” Her mouth twisted and she bit the inside of her lip.

“You can both be good, it’s not a one but not the other thing,” Kit said gently patting Estra on the shoulder, “but sometimes things that look bad at the outset work out for the best in the long run. She looks up to you Essie. You have done a wonderful job.” 

“Thanks,” Estra shrugged, her body language showing how much she didn’t believe the compliment, “So now we’ve just got to go have afternoon tea with a Queen and Zallie needs to return that damn box without being seen. This is going to be an amazing naming day party, assuming we don’t all get caught and hanged.” 

Kithera sighed at her adopted daughter’s seemingly eternal cynicism. 

“Yep, but I have faith in the Force that some sort of solution will present itself without having to resort to trying to escape from jail. Kirsh will have figured out something and we’ll make it work. I’ve heard many things about the Queen and none of them say that she’s anything other than gentle and kind.” 

Estra smiled tiredly and Kit wanted to remind her that she was only seventeen and that she wasn’t responsible for everything in the world, but she knew Estra wouldn’t listen. The girl had been made to grow up too young through no fault of her own.

“Just enjoy yourself today, okay Essie?” Kit said quietly, “let your Da and I take care of the lock box and the Queen. You just hang out and enjoy the hospitality, maybe stick close to F’kisi.” She watched as Estra glanced over at the boy and felt the music that surrounded Estra change slightly as the girl coloured. Kit tried to hide her grin, it looked like Del was going to have to have a conversation with both of them. 


	20. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 12)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Family attends the party at the palace, but Kirsh puts a spanner in Kit's carefully laid plans.

Kithera closed her eyes and breathed out, letting the Force flow around and through her, listening to the music for any dangers. There weren’t any. Instead the music trickled and sung gently, a soothing, calming melody that seemed to soak through the entire essence of the planet. 

Inside the swaddle, Quin stirred and Kit glanced down at the baby’s pink face as it nestled against the blanket. Kirsh had met them at the gates of the palace. He had seemed slightly more stressed than normal as he strode down towards him. He’d greeted each one in turn, his padawan following behind him, a slight frown on his face. He had left her until last and swept her up in a bearish hug, at odds with the more formal bows he had given the others. 

“How’s my little patient?” He asked as he put her down. Kithera grinned at him. 

“She slept properly last night and so did I,” she said after a moment, ‘thank you.” 

“Ah, I did think you were looking rather less old and haggard,” Kirsh said motioning the family to follow after the young palace guard who’d escorted them. Kithera poked out her tongue at him and he grinned cheekily at her. As the family turned and started to walk up the long drive, Kirsh’s grin faded. 

“We have a problem,” he whispered. Kit felt her heart drop. Kirsh smiled again although it didn’t reach his eyes and took her arm. She played along, trying to make it look as if were simply two old friends talking after a long absence. Zallie was already interrogating Heilan as the family followed the young Jedi padawan and the palace guards towards the huge entrance doors. Nicco was trying to run interference while Del carried one twin on his shoulders and F’kisi and Estra held the hands of the other, making him jump and giggle as he walked along between them. It wasn’t hard to drop back and be at the end of the rather large and boisterous party. 

“The box does indeed belong to the Queen,” Kirsh said softly, “and she’s noticed it missing.” 

Kithera stopped herself from cursing. She had almost fooled herself that they would just be able to put the box down on a shelf somewhere and hope that a servant found it before the Queen had even noticed it was missing. Obviously, that wasn’t going to be the case. 

“Please tell me that it’s not something that’s vital to the continuing survival of all Naboo,” Kit groaned even as she tried to keep the smile on her face. 

“Not really, it’s just the key to a jewellery box but it seems to hold great sentimental value to Amidala.” 

Kit grinned at Kirsh even though her thoughts were racing and she knew it wasn’t the time to be flippant. 

“Amidala is it?” She grinned, “look at you getting very comfortable with the Queen.” He scowled at her and she sobered again, “I’ve told Zallie that she must return it but I also told her that she has to listen to the Force and be guided by you and I as to when she returns it.”

“There might be consequences if she just hands it over,” Kirsh said his face worried. Kit shrugged even as she felt the tight knot of anxiety she’d been carrying since yesterday tighten in her stomach.

“I know that and I’m willing to face that if there are.” 

Kirsh’s eyebrows shot up. 

“Sorry,” he said feigning surprise, “are you sure you’re the same person I knew at the temple Kithera  _ what can I do to avoid all the consequences of my actions _ Rinani?”

She punched him lightly on the arm. 

“Being a parent has changed me, okay?” She said putting on an air of fake superiority, then she sobered again. “Zallie has to learn. It’s one thing I’d wish Master Zahalin had done more for me, that is actually let me feel the full brunt of my actions. I just hope that Queen Amidala is as kind and just and temperate as they say she is.” 

Kirsh reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. 

“I’m sure whatever happens will be for the best,” he said as they joined the rest of the family at the palace doors. Kit smiled at him trying to push the knot of anxiety away and realising it was useless. Despite her assurance to Kirsh, she knew that whatever happened she would protect her daughter even if that meant taking the punishment for herself. 

*

The door opened to reveal a young man in a starched red jacket embroidered with gold trim. He bowed to them and then smiled. 

“The Queen is expecting you, this way please.” 

They were led through opulent halls and out into a wide and spacious garden, ringed with trees. Various people were standing together in small groups eating canapes and drinking from tall glasses. The tables were richly arrayed with food and drinks. Del dropped back to where Kirsh and Kithera were standing. 

“I thought you said this was supposed to be a small intimate gathering?” He asked the Jedi. Kirsh shrugged and made a face. 

“That’s what I was told. Perhaps the Royal Naboo have a different opinion of a small and intimate gathering then we do. Perhaps it’s because of the festival that there are so many people.” 

Del frowned in consternation. The young man that had led them in went to talk to an extremely well dressed young woman. The woman turned and smiled at them. She was wearing an exquisitely tailored dress of deep blue, and thousands of pearls decorated the bodice in intricate patterns. Kithera grinned at Del as Estra sighed in longing, loud enough to hear. 

“This must be the Queen,” Del said softly. Zallie looked over her shoulder at them and gave them a look as if they were stupid. 

“That’s not the Queen,” she said. She skipped forward before anyone could stop her and went straight up to another young lady who the young man was now heading towards. The young lady, dressed plainly in jodhpurs and a riding jacket looked down as Zallie skipped up to her. Zallie curtseyed and grinned at the lady. 

“When are we going to go and ride Laluna?” 

“Zallie!” Kithera admonished her daughter, hurrying forward to grab the girl by the hand. She’d only gone two steps when the young woman smiled down at Zallie and then glanced up at the family as they stood frozen on the stairs. Kithera stopped to watch them. The music that surrounded the young lady was soft and melodic with the deeper notes that the Force always used to designate when someone was important, but whether she was important to the Naboo, or The Family or the future of the Empire, Kithera could never tell. 

“Is that a new jacket?” She asked Zallie softly motioning the young man who had been heading towards her away.

“Yes,” the girl wiggled on the spot and then looked back, “my sister Estra made it for me.” 

“She’s very talented,” the young woman looked towards where the family was arrayed across the steps, “can you take me and introduce me to them?”

Zallie grinned again and took the Queen by the hand. As they reached the stairs the family bowed and curtseyed. 

“Your Majesty,” Kithera said smiling, “thank you for inviting us.” 

Amidala smiled and nodded her head, “it’s I who have to thank you. I only met your daughter yesterday but she’s quite intrigued me.” 

Kithera smiled again, trying not to think of the tiny box that was nestled in her pocket. Intriguing was one word to describe Zallie, but so was precocious, terrifying and worrisome and that was just the words and she would use. Zallie tugged on the Queen’s hand again.

“You’ve met them. Can we go now?”

“Zallie!” This time it was Estra who snapped, frowning at her sister, “you don’t talk like that to a Queen.” 

Amidala laughed and her lips twisted in amusement. She turned and bent so that she on the same level as Zallie. 

“Lunch first and I’d like to talk to your parents. Then we will go riding. I promise.” 

Zallie frowned for a second and then looked at her parent’s faces before she turned back to the Queen and then nodded. 

“Lunch, then riding.” She said solemnly, scuffing her boot against the grass. She glanced at Kit again who raised her eyebrows and Zallie gave a half smile at the Queen. “Thank you, your majesty.” 

Amidala rose again and smiled at the rest of the family. Kithera could see the amusement in the young lady’s eyes as she surveyed the family. 

“So it’s sorted,” she said after a minute. “In that case, let me welcome you to the royal residence of Naboo.” 


	21. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 13)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Family enjoys the party, where Kithera talks to the Queen, puts a Lady back in her place and worried about Zallie blowing their carefully laid plans with her chocolate covered fingers.

Kithera stood at the long tables filled with food and tried to work out what to put on her plate. Behind her she could hear the burble of conversation as the adults mingled as well as the occasional shrieks and giggles of the children as one of Amidala’s handmaidens read them stories and used silly voices. Another one of the handmaidens was playing hide and seek with some of the older children. Their own large brood luckily hadn’t been the only children there, but Kithera was supremely aware of the differences between her own children’s modest dress and rougher attitudes and the gentler Naboo. Kithera felt a tap on her boot and looked down to see Zallie’s grinning face peek out from underneath the tablecloth. She carefully put the plate down and squatted to be on eye-level with her daughter.

“I hope you are behaving yourself.” 

Zallie grinned. 

“They haven’t found me in three rounds.” 

“That is because you’ve picked a good hiding spot isn’t it, and not because you are using other  _ talents _ to your advantage.”

Zallie blushed and Kithera closed her eyes, reminding herself yet again that she and Del needed to take a firmer hand on their daughter’s ability. 

“You aren’t being fair Zallie,” she reminded her, “and people won’t want to play with you if you aren’t fair.” 

The girl bit her bottom lip and nodded. Kithera figured that now was as good a time as any and dug through her pocket to find the box. She palmed it to Zallie who instinctively put it in her own pocket without looking at it – just as she had been taught to do. 

“You need to find a way of returning this,” Kithera said quietly thinking about her earlier conversation with Kirsh, “but you need to return it without getting caught.” 

Zallie nodded again. There was a call that the next round of hide and seek was about to begin and Zallie ducked her head back under the table. 

Kithera stood and picked up her plate, putting two of the vol au vents that she’d been eyeing off earlier. She moved slowly down the table slowly filling her plate. It had been a long time since she’d seen such a variety and plethora of food. 

The Family’s finances ran hot and cold and there was always the stress of the next job or the next mark and whether The Lady would last that long before the next repairs. She was so deep in her own little world that she almost bumped into the Queen. 

“I’m sorry your majesty,” she said smiling awkwardly. 

Amidala smiled back and Kithera was reminded about how young the girl was. She was two years younger than F’kisi and Estra but she was expected to lead an entire planet. Something she apparently did with dignity and aplomb. 

Kithera briefly wondered if Estra or F’kisi were up to the task, but it wasn’t a fair comparison. Amidala had been trained to lead, the other two had been trained to steal. She wondered how the Queen would go if she had to pick pocket nobles to survive. 

“Oh please,” the young woman said softly, “don’t apologise. How are you enjoying the party.” 

Kithera winced as she heard one of the twins squeal in delight at something. 

“I think the family is enjoying it very much, Your Majesty,” she said, motioning to the crowd. “Although I must admit we were a little surprised by the number of people.” 

This time it was Amidala’s turn to blush. 

“I think that was my fault. I mentioned something to one of my handmaidens and she was so taken with the idea that she organised this whole party as a way of starting the anniversary commemoration.” 

“Ahh,” Kithera nodded and then paused, thinking, “did you know Master Qui-Gon well?” 

Amidala smiled shyly. “A little. He was a great comfort to me during the blockade and very brave. I was most upset at his passing.” 

Kithera nodded, her mouth twitching at the memory of feeling his death through the Force. Amidala gave a sad smile and patted her arm. 

“Kirsh said you are a Jedi, did you know him well?” 

Kithera nodded and wet her lips, wondering about how much to tell the Queen. 

“I was a Jedi,” she corrected and then looked around. “Although that life was long ago and I would prefer it be kept quiet. Sometimes being a former Jedi can get you into far more trouble than it’s worth.” 

Amidala nodded frowning and patted her arm again. 

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” 

Kithera reached out gently and tentatively with the Force but found the same soft melodic music. The Queen was telling the truth, she would not betray her confidence. 

“I knew him,” Kithera said glancing towards where Zallie had finally let herself be found at the end of the table. “We were good friends for a long time and he was also a great friend of my Master’s too. Master Jinn was very wise and very kind.” 

“Like his padawan, or should I say knight.” Amidala’s mouth twitched at some memory. “Did you know him as well?” 

“Only as a padawan,” Kithera said, her own mouth twitching in mirth. “He was very cheeky.” 

She thought about Obi-wan’s misadventures during the last exchange and the way that her and Qui-Gon’s relationship had affected him. She sobered at the thought. That was one relationship that was never going to be repaired. “From memory, he was a bit more head-strong and political than his Master, but I believe that it will serve him well as a knight.” 

Amidala grinned. “And he’s very handsome.”

“He was a child last time I saw him,” Kithera said giving a tiny shake of her head, “but I do believe there were many female padawans who would agree with you.” 

“He’s coming here tomorrow you know,” Amidala added, putting a tiny cupcake on her plate. 

Kithera felt her stomach drop. She didn’t want to see Obi-wan again. There was too much history there. Too much bad blood and memories. She was suddenly glad they were leaving sooner rather than later. That way there was no way that she could bump into him. 

“Unfortunately, we’ll be away by then,” Kithera replied, hoping her voice wouldn’t betray her worry. “Master Aleski has organised for Quin to have medical treatment on Coruscant and it can’t be delayed.” She motioned to the carrier where Quin was still sleeping soundly. “She was an early baby and there is a problem with her heart. Master Aleski said it’s an easy fix but it needs to be done by the Healers and Doctors on Coruscant.” 

“Oh,” Amidala frowned slightly. “I could have introduced you to Senator Palpatine. I’m sure his services and connections could help you.” 

Kithera shivered nwithout knowing why and shook her head at the young Queen, even as she smiled. 

“Thank you for your offer your Majesty but our family is normally very private. We wouldn’t want to intrude or put others out.” 

_ //Or get ourselves more noticed then we already are _ .// Her brain added.

“I understand,” Amidala said, “sometimes privacy is the most important treasure of all.”

She suddenly looked sad and Kithera wondered about how much the strain of ruling had put on her, even if she did make it look so effortless. Amidala patted her arm, “I will keep your mission quiet.”

Kithera nodded her thanks and there was a pause as both women reached the end of the buffet and turned to survey the crowd. From the sling on her chest Quin made a tiny hiccupping noise and then settled again.

“Is she awake?” Amidala said curiously. “May I see her?”

“Sure.” Kithera put her plate down and unclipped the sling from her shoulder. “Would you like to hold her?” 

The young woman’s face lit up, reminding Kithera once again about how young she really was. 

“May I? I would love to.”

Kithera smiled and carefully took Quin out of the sling. The tiny baby’s fists clenched against the movement and she opened two blue eyes to regard her mother. Beside her, Amidala had already put her own plate down and cleaned her hands. She took Quin gently as Kit passed her over and held her close. 

“She’s tiny,” Amidala said softly brushing the side of the baby’s cheek with one finger, “and beautiful.” 

“Now, don’t go getting any ideas.” 

The voice came from behind her and Kithera turned to see an older, plump woman smiling at her and Amidala. The woman was wearing perhaps the brightest, most gaudiest and, Kithera guessed, expensive outfit at the party. The music that surrounded Amidala changed to a slight hum of annoyance and when Kit looked back the young queen’s smile had turned brittle and bright.

“Lady Shals, I hadn’t expected you to be here today.” Amidala’s smile broadened but Kithera noticed it never reached her eyes. 

The lady bobbed her head, making her jowls wobble and smoothed a crease from the front of her rather loud jacket. Kit had the sudden image from the twin’s books which showed an olden-day watercraft under full sail. The woman glanced briefly at her and then swivelled her attention back to Amidala.

“Ah, I flew in a day early. I wanted to beat the rest of the traffic. However, I think I left it too late. The spaceport is literally teaming with off-worlders. I know you welcome trade, Your Majesty, but honestly from the look of some of those ships there won’t be much trade happening. Lady Tessè was just telling me about the number of things that some of the nobles had stolen yesterday. It’s quite shocking. I hope you are planning on coming down hard on the offenders if they are caught.” 

Amidala smiled again and bent down to where Quin was stretching and fussing. Ignoring what Lady Shals had just said, Amidala unhooked her finger from Quins grasp to bop her gently on the nose. She smiled at the baby again and gently handed her back to Kit who shushed as Quin complained softly at the movement.

Kithera mentally crossed her fingers that Zallie, Estra and F’kisi wouldn’t be recognised from their little  _ outing _ yesterday, while kicking herself that they’d even accepted the invitation in the first place. 

“Lady Shals, I haven’t introduced you to my companion,” Amidala said motioning towards Kithera in the perfectly polished way of a born politician. “Her family has flown in for the ceremony.” 

This time it was Kithera’s turn to do the overly polite, saccharin sweet smile that Master Zahalin had made her practice so many years ago. She inclined her head towards Lady Shals. 

“Kithera D’ladame,” she said still smiling and using the name that Estra had given them yesterday. “Apologies for not greeting you more warmly but as you can see, my youngest daughter has me rather tied up.” 

“Uh, yes, of course.” Lady Shals looked rather discomforted. “What brings you to Naboo?”

“Why the commemoration day,” Kithera said, still smiling. “We heard about it and how fabulously welcoming the people of Naboo are.”

“Of course, of course. I mean before when I was speaking – I – ah – didn’t mean you of course.” 

“Of course, I would never believe such a thing.” Kithera’s smile broadened and she felt Amidala’s music ripple with what sounded like suppressed laughter. She was suddenly glad of what she’d seen as endless training by Master Zahalin about how to conduct herself in political circles. She hadn’t had the patience for it when she was younger, but today, she was very glad of it. “I can see how the people of Naboo wouldn’t want anyone to take advantage of their hospitality,” she continued. 

“Well yes.” Lady Shals stuttered awkwardly, a red flush creeping across her mammoth bosom, “It was – ah – the younger generation of travellers I was referring to of course.” 

There was a commotion that took the attention of Lady Shal’s increasingly red decolletage. Zallie was flying up towards them, her hair undone from her braid and giggling as Nicco chased her. She reached Kit’s skirts and clung onto them as Nicco reached them, panting. Lady Shals eyed them all suspiciously and Kit felt her heart sink as Nicco grabbed his sister who whooped in mock surprise. 

“Give me back my cake you little sneak thief.” 

Kithera winced at Nicco’s wording as he scooped his sister up into the air and managed to disentangle a rather crushed piece of chocolate cake from her hand. Kithera glared at Nicco, who dropped Zallie to the ground and stood awkwardly. 

“Nicco and Zallie are my children,” Kithera said by way of introduction. “Children say good afternoon to Lady Shals.” 

Kithera motioned with her hand, trying to remember to smile as she struggled to ignore Zallie’s chocolate smeared face and unkempt hair. 

Nicco bowed low and Kithera was torn between cheering his sense of theatrics and slapping him for it. Taking her cue from her brother, Zallie curtseyed and then wobbled to the ground giggling. 

“Are you almost ready for the ride Zallie?” Amidala asked, relief and amusement briefly flickering across her face before disappearing behind the impenetrable mask of the politician. 

“Yes!” the girl squealed and then saw Kit’s look and repeated the answer in a much more serious tone. 

“I shall go and see the groomsmen then,” Amidala said then looked at Lady Shals. “Forgive me Lady Shals, but I did promise young Zallie here that I would take her riding on the Gurlara.” She glanced at Kithera. “Are you going to come riding Mistress D’ladame? I was rather hoping to talk to you more about your – ahh – life.”

Kithera shook her head. “I am afraid not, my lady. I do not have my daughter’s love of very large animals. I did hear that Master Aleski and Nicco here were going to join you though.” That had been Kirsh’s suggestion, that there would be a family member to accompany Zallie whenever she might be alone with the Queen. 

“Very well then. We will talk again soon.” 

“I look forward to it, your majesty.” Kithera’s smile this time was a genuine one. She might be young, but Amidala had already shown more aplomb then many accomplished politicians.

“Come Zallie,” Amidala held out her hand and the young girl practically leapt forward to grab Amidala’s hand with her chocolate covered fingers.

“Nicco, please…” Kithera brushed the young man’s arm, but he was already nodding. 

“I’ve got her Rin,” Nicco said softly. Kithera watched the young man trail after a skipping Zallie and the Queen, trying to squash her sense of foreboding. With a smile she turned back to Lady Shals who was also watching them go. 

“So, Lady Shals,” Kithera said politely, “I believe you were about to tell me all about your family and their trading links on Naboo.” 


	22. Pet 20 – Guarlara – Laluna – 27 BBY – 10 years and 364 days exactly  (Part 14)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zallie goes riding with Amidala, but will giving the box back bring the entire Family undone?

Kirsh watched Zallie grin with pure joy as the massive guarlara trotted through the lush paddocks that abutted the stables. Amidala held the long lead rope and coaxed Laluna into a pattern of wide circles. Nicco stood beside her holding Zallie’s Guarlara toy that she had insisted on introducing to Laluna. 

“You’re very lucky Miss Zallie,” Kirsh called, “only royalty are supposed to ride the Gurlara.” 

Zallie blushed and looked down to where Amidala was letting the rope play. 

“Is that really the case your majesty?” she asked breathlessly. 

“Yes, normally.” Amidala smiled, “unless we give permission to someone else and the Gurlara accept them. I think Laluna is so smitten with you that she would have been grumpy with me if I had not allowed you to ride her.”

Zallie leaned forward to lie across the giant animal’s shoulder and stroke its neck. The Gurlara snorted softly and Zallie grinned again. 

“Did you find the box your majesty?” Kirsh said walking forward to stand next to Amidala and marvel at the huge beast as it trotted slowly around the ring. He kept his voice conversational but loud enough that it carried to where Zallie was riding. Amidala shook her head. Her shoulders tensed. 

“Not yet. I thought it would have appeared by now. I and my handmaidens have searched everywhere, but it has vanished.” 

“What box your majesty?” Nicco asked, looking perplexed. Kirsh watched him knowing that all Kithera and Del’s children had been taught to lie. However, he found it disconcerting that they seemed to do so effortlessly. If he hadn’t seen Zallie produce the box and known that Nicco had been there he would have sworn that Nicco was just politely interested. From her perch on top of Laluna, Zallie’s grin faltered. 

“It’s nothing of consequence,” Amidala said but her eyes betrayed her lie, “It’s just a small trifle.” 

“You said your father gave it to you,” Kirsh pushed glancing at Zallie to make sure she was still paying attention. “It must be precious. How old were you again?”

“It was my twelfth birthday,” Amidala smiled, “we had air cake and played games and then my father produced this tiny little carved box.”

Kirsh watched Zallie’s hand stray down to the pocket of her coat. She wasn’t smiling anymore, just clinging tightly to the reins of Laluna with one hand and fumbling in her pocket with the other. She glanced at her brother who shook his head and Zallie gave a tiny nod. 

“What did you do with it?” Kirsh asked softly, watching both the little girl and the teenager lost in her dream. Amidala laughed. 

“Not what he’d expected. I thought it was just a nice trinket. My father loves giving me puzzle boxes as challenges. I tried to open it for ages but it wouldn’t work. Then he told me it opened something and that it was the final puzzle piece.”

“What was it?” Zallie asked curiously. Amidala looked up at her as Laluna, sensing the change of pace, slowed to a walk. 

“A jewellery box,” Amidala smiled at the memory, “a beautiful wooden jewellery box and the tiny box was the key. Inside was my mother’s first jewels that her mother had given her. I loved that birthday and that box. I always keep it with me because it reminds me of how much my parents love me. Even when things are challenging it is always there so losing it is like…” Amidala cast around and then obviously spotted the stuffed toy in Nicco’s hands, “like you losing your little Laluna.” 

“Oh.”

Zallie frowned and Amidala looked up at her, the smile fading into a look of concern. 

“Are you alright, Miss Zallie?” 

The young girl nodded. 

“Can I hop off now?” She asked, biting her bottom lip. Amidala looked puzzled. 

“I would have thought you would want to stay on Laluna longer.” Zallie shook her head. Kirsh could see her bottom lip wobbling and landscape of the Force that surrounded her had turned mottled shades of sea blue. 

“No thank you. I just want to go back to Mama now.” 

Kirsh glanced at Nicco who was frowning at his sister. Amidala brought Laluna to a halt and Kirsh reached up to help Zallie down. The moment both feet touched the ground Zallie burst into tears. 

“Oh no Zallie!” Amidala gathered her close as the tiny girl sobbed. “Why are you crying?” 

“I took it,” she said between sobs, her hand going into her pocket. Behind his sister, Nicco’s face went pale and he took a step forward but Kirsh held up a hand. 

“I took it and I’m sorry and…” Zallie was hiccupping with sobs between each word, “I took it your majesty.”

“What did you take?” Amidala knelt down so she was face-to-face with the girl. 

“Your little box.” Zallie fumbled in her pocket again and brought out the little box which she thrust at Amidala. “It was just so pretty and I wanted to have it, so I took it.”

Kirsh watched the interplay of colours around Amidala carefully. First the blanch of white-silver that always designated shock and then streaks of red and gold as the young woman frowned at Zallie and pursed her lips. Zallie drew back, her face downcast and looked at the Queen. 

“I’m sorry.” She turned and put her hands out towards one of the nearby guards. “You can take me to jail now.” 

Amidala blinked and then laughed, a clear bell of sound across the wavy grass. Kirsh watched as the red-gold of the anger peeled apart and fled and the colours around the Queen’s flowered into their normal teal, raspberry and royal purple. 

“I’m not going to send you to prison Zallie.” The girl looked relieved and hopeful. “But I am disappointed in you.” 

“I’m sorry, it’s just so pretty.” She reached up and pointed at one of the designs. “Each of these are different. What do they mean?” 

“Oh.” Amidala smiled again, “they are all symbols of my family. Do you want me to tell you.”

“Yes please?” Zallie nodded. Amidala handed the reins to a stable hand and sunk down into the grass still holding the box. Zallie took one tentative step forward and then launched herself into Amidala’s lap. Kirsh looked at Nicco whose face was still white and pensive. 

“Shall we leave them to it?” he asked softly. Nicco nodded giving one backwards glance at his sister and Queen. Amidala was turning the cube over pointing at different elements and Zallie was talking animatedly, her hands and arms flying in all directions. 

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Nicco asked. 

“I don’t think the Queen is going to send her to jail,” Kirsh said, “are you worried about Zallie revealing your family’s secret.”

Nicco shook his head. “No, my sister knows not to do that.” He looked at Kirsh and shrugged, “to be honest I was surprised she said anything about the box at all.” He looked across at the Queen. “And that her Majesty was so forgiving.” 

Kirsh frowned and ran his fingers through his blonde hair, “I am too. I thought it would take a lot of convincing not to have her want some sort of punishment. She is an odd young lady, far wiser than her years.” 

They watched for a minute more in silence before Kirsh spoke. 

“What is your role in the family?” He asked quietly. 

Nicco grinned and ran his hand through his short cropped black hair as if perplexed by the question. 

“My role?”

“Well, you are old enough to make your way in the world but yet the Force tells me that you have no such desire.”

“I’m saving for my own ship,” Nicco said after a moment, “I’ve been saving since I was twelve but sometimes I dip into it for other things so it grows slowly.”

“Like the Gurlara doll,” Kirsh said, pointing to where Zallie was holding the doll tight.

“That and sometimes because  _ The Lady  _ needs repairs, or there isn’t food on the table.”

Kirsh frowned. “Isn’t that Kit and Del’s responsibility?” 

“It’s not that simple. Rin and Da don’t like me spending my money. We all get a share of any job we take, even the twins get some if they help. However, keeping  _ The Lady _ in the air is sometimes more expensive then they’d like to let on. So, I help even if they don’t like it. She’s my home too.”

“That is very noble of you.” 

“Not really. Don’t feel like the idea that I die in a fiery death one day when  _ The Lady _ finally breaks and yet I had money stashed away to fix her. Feels rather pointless.” 

He looked at Kirsh and shrugged.

“I’ll get to go one day. One day I’ll get my ship and then I’ll have my own jobs to do. But Family is important to Da and to Rin and to me too.” 

Kirsh stroked his beard adding what Nicco had said to the information he’d accumulated about Kithera’s new life. He wasn’t sure he entirely agreed with all of it, but he could also see the family she’d created, the one she’d longed for since Master Zahalin had died. 

Amidala and Zallie were talking softly to the giant Gualara and Zallie bent forward and kissed the beast’s nose who shivered and then whickered in response. They turned and strode back towards them and Kirsh was pleased to see Zallie holding onto one of the Queen’s hands. Amidala’s other hand was clutching the box as if she would never let it go. 

“Shall we head back to the party?” Amidala asked, passing Zallie’s hand to Nicco who bowed his head.

“Did you apologise properly to the Queen for taking her box?” Nicco asked, raising an eyebrow. Zallie nodded. 

“I did. I’m still very sorry your majesty, I promise I’ll never do it again.” 

This time it was Kirsh’s turn to raise an eyebrow, glad that Amidala’s attention was focused on the young girl in front of her. 

“I’m glad to hear it.” Amidala said, putting her hands on her hips, and then relaxing and letting them drop. “Although you could answer one question for me Zallie.”

“Yes your majesty?” Zallie’s face was all smiles but Kirsh could see Nicco tense. 

“When you first arrived at the party, how did you know I was the Queen.” 

Kirsh tensed too, drawing in a sharp breath. Zallie’s smile broadened. 

“You were the only person wearing a riding jacket just like mine.” She twirled and Amidala laughed as Kirsh let out the breath he’d be holding. 

“That was very clever Zallie. Be careful or Master Aleski here will make you a Jedi with such good thinking skills.” 

Zallie made a face. 

“I don’t want to be a Jedi,” she said after a moment.

“Oh and why is that?” Kirsh asked solemnly. 

“Ma says that Jedi aren’t allowed to have any fun.” 

Nicco scrunched his eyes tight as Kirsh roared with laughter and Amidala giggled. 

“You are right little one,” he said after a minute, “your mother does believe fun is the most important thing in life.”

“Now that’s a sentiment I can understand,” Amidala grinned, “shall we return to the party to make sure we have lots of fun too?” 

Zallie nodded and bounded away in a way that reminded Kirsh of a much younger Kit. Nicco took off after his younger sister leaving Kirsh and Amidala alone. 

“You are a wise ruler not to punish the girl for her mistake,” Kirsh said softly, “many would not have been so gentle or so kind.”

“I think it was done because she liked it, not because she’s evil or malicious,” Amidala said softly as Nicco and Zallie walked ahead of them. She paused and then looked at Kirsh, her eyes suddenly stern. “Unless there is something you aren’t telling me Master Jedi and I have in fact invited a whole family of thieves into my home.” 

This was it. He could tell the truth and bring his best friend’s life undone and ruin the Queen’s trust in her own judgement or he could lie. Not for the first time since they’d left was Kirsh glad that his padawan was still at the party. Heilan’s youth and view of the world was still very black and white and yet to be tempered by experience. Kirsh realised that Amidala was waiting for his reply. He sighed and felt the Living Force surround and guide him. 

“No my lady, like I said yesterday I can vouch for the D’ladame family, they are good people.” 

Amidala smiled and nodded and then they walked back to the party in silence. 

“I am glad to hear it, Master Aleski,” Amidala said, “I generally think myself a fairly good judge of character and I’d hate to hear that I had been wrong.”


End file.
